THE  WORLDS  EPOCH  MAKERS. 
Edited  by  Ouphakt  Smeatw, 


and 


By 

Prof.  J.  Herkless,  d.d. 


sr.  I )  r )  M I  \  I  r  —  ( ^rh^elli 


THE  WORLD'S  EPOCH-MAKERS 


EDITED  BY 

OLIPHANT  SMEATON 


Francis  and  Dominic 

and  The  Mendicant  Orders 
By  John  Herkless,  D.D. 


Previous  Volumes  in  this  Series  :— 


CRANMER  AND  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION. 

i  By  A.  D.  INNES,  M.A. 

i 

I  WESLEY  AND  METHODISM. 

j  By  F.  J.  Snell.  M.A. 

I         LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

By  Prof.  T.  M.  Lindsay,  D.D. 

BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHISM. 

By  Arthur  Lillie,  M.A. 

WILLIAM  HERSCHEL  AND  HIS  WORK. 

By  James  Sime,  M.A.,  F.R.S.E. 


For  Complete  List  see  End, 


THE  WORLD'S  EPOCH-MAKERS 


Francis  and  Dominic 

and 

The  Mendicant  Orders 


By 

John  Herkless,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  University  of  St.  Andrews 


New  York.       Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
1901 


CONTENTS 

('UAl'. 

I,  IM  KO])Ui  TION 

II.  ST.    FlIANCIS  .... 

III.  ST.    KKANCIS  .... 

IV.  ST.    DOMINK  .... 
V.  niOORESS  OF   THE  ORDKKS  . 

VI.  THE  MENDICANTS  ANI)  THE  INQUISITION 
VII.  THE  MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM 
VIII.   THE  DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  . 
LITERATURE  .... 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/francisdominicmeOOherk_0 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


CHAPTER  I 

Inteoduction 

Medievalism  is  a  record  of  spiritual,  mental,  and  polit- 
ical slavery ;  but  it  is  also  the  fascinating  story  of  the 
Church's  supremacy,  of  the  Crusades  with  their  forlorn 
hopes  and  splendid  legends,  of  the  piety  which  raised 
the  Gothic  cathedrals,  of  the  universities  with  their 
weight  of  learning,  of  the  friars  poor  for  Christ's  sake, 
of  the  scholastics  justifying  the  dogma,  of  the  mystics 
blessed  with  the  vision  of  God. 

One  of  the  charms  of  Medievalism  is  that  the  stage 
is  vast;  the  chief  actors  are  of  epic  stature.  The 
emperor.  Otto  the  Great  or  Frederick  Barbarossa,  was 
pre-eminent  among  the  kings  of  the  Western  world : 
the  pope,  Gregory  vii.  or  Innocent  ill.,  was  not  a 
prisoner  of  his  palace,  but  was  a  rival  for  the  sovereign 
place  in  Europe.  Around  the  emperor  was  the  majesty 
of  Rome,  while  the  pope  was  vested  with  the  sanctity 
of  religion.  The  centuries,  however,  were  furnishing 
the  Roman  pontiff  with  temporal  splendour.  In  the 
fourth  century  Christianity  became  the  recognised 
I 


2 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


religion  of  the  Roman  State,  and  the  first  Christian 
emperor,  having  built  a  city  on  the  Bosphorus,  made 
it  the  centre  of  his  government.  Ancient  Rome 
^YSiS  left  to  its  bishops,  who  step  by  step  advanced  to 
prominence  in  Italy.  In  the  eighth  century  the  Roman 
Church,  harassed  by  the  Lombards,  called  the  Franks 
to  its  aid;  and  on  Christmas  Day,  800  A.D.,  he  who 
claimed  to  be  the  ecclesiastical  heir  of  St.  Peter  be- 
stowed the  imperial  crown  on  the  alleged  successor  of 
Augustus.  Whether  the  empire  of  Charlemain  was  a 
new  creation  or  was  a  revival  or  a  continuation  of  that 
of  Augustus  is  a  constitutional  question ;  but  whatever 
the  answer,  it  remains  that  the  strongest  king  in  the 
West  accepted  the  symbol  of  imperial  power  from  the 
hands  of  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Charlemain's  empire  fell  to  the  ground  amid  the 
divisions  of  his  sons.  In  the  tenth  century  Otto  the 
Great  united  Germany  and  Italy,  and  was  crowned 
emperor  at  Rome.  This  union,  on  which  the  right  to 
the  imperial  title  was  based,  had  more  than  a  political 
interest.  The  theory  gained  general  acceptance  that  the 
emperor  was  God's  representative  in  things  temporal, 
as  the  pope  was  representative  in  things  spiritual. 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  however,  in  days  when  Church 
and  State  were  at  strife,  used  the  phrase  Holy  Roman 
Empire  in  order  to  show  that  his  power  was  not 
derived  from  the  pope  but  flowed  directly  from  God. 
The  phrase,  too,  though  Barbarossa  had  other  intention, 
emphasised  the  fact  that  the  empire  was  hol}^  in  the 
sense  of  being  an  alliance  between  Church  and  State. 
This  alliance,  which  had  its  symbol  in  the  imperial 
coronation  by  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  was 
one  of  equality.    Yet  who  was  to  mark  the  limits  of 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


the  secular  and  spiritual,  to  decree  the  dominion  of 
emperor  and  pope  ?  While  Otto  the  Great  lived,  and 
throughout  the  period  preceding  the  power  of  Hilde- 
brand,  the  Church  was  in  subjection.  It  was  the  ideal 
of  that  pope,  and  he  did  not  altogether  fail,  to  destroy 
the  subjection,  to  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  Church 
over  all  causes,  and  to  exalt  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
universal  dominion. 

It  has  been  told  of  Hildebrand  that  in  his  precocious 
childhood  he  played  with  wood-chips  in  his  father's 
shop,  arranging  them  as  the  letters  of  "  dominabor  a 
mari  usque  ad  mare,"  "  I  shall  have  dominion  from  sea 
to  sea,"  and  that  in  the  famous  monastery  of  Cluny 
the  abbot  applied  the  words  to  him,  as  to  another  John 
the  Baptist,  "  He  shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord."  His  dominion  was  not  to  stretch  from  sea  to 
sea,  but  the  policy  to  which  he  gave  his  name  was  to 
endure  for  centuries.  Throughout  the  period  of  his 
youth  the  papacy,  was  not  elevated  by  virtue  or  graced 
by  piety,  and  its  inheritance  was  an  evil  reputation. 
Among  the  popes  there  had  been  men  who  purchased 
the  tiara  or  seized  it  by  force  of  arms ;  and  there  had 
been  others  who  were  deposed,  exiled,  or  murdered. 
Two  women  of  noble  name  and  infamous  repute  had 
placed  their  lovers  in  St.  Peter's  chair ;  while  a  boy  of 
twelve  and  a  youth  of  eighteen  had  each  been  vicar  of 
the  Apostle.  If  Charlemain  stooped  from  royal  dignity 
to  receive  a  crown  from  an  ecclesiastic,  he  was  avenged 
when  the  Emperor  Henry  iii.  cast  out  the  rival  popes 
at  Sutri,  and  forced  the  Roman  priests  to  accept  a  bishop 
from  his  hands. 

In  the  eyes  of  Hildebrand,  in  spite  of  any  theory 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  Henry  ill.  was  not  com- 


4  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


missioned  to  touch  the  Lord's  anointed ;  and  another 
method,  different  from  imperial  coercion,  must  be  found 
for  the  purification  of  the  Church.  No  layman,  how- 
ever exalted,  must  tamper  with  spiritual  independ- 
ence. Yet  reformation  was  needed,  as  Hildebrand  saw, 
who  had  been  trained  in  the  severe  morality  of  the 
monastery  of  Cluny.  Monkish  methods  of  revival 
were  to  hand.  As  the  monk,  when  keeping  the  spirit 
I  of  his  vow,  had  cut  himself  off  from  the  corrupting 
control  of  the  things  of  time,  that  he  might  govern  his 
soul  to  its  eternal  welfare,  so  must  the  Church  separate 
from  the  world  if  it  would  rule  mankind.  The  first 
thing  to  be  destroyed  was  simony.  The  priest  who 
purchased  and  the  layman  who  sold,  they  who 
[brought  the  things  of  religion  into  the  market-place 
for  traffic,  were  to  be  pronounced  guilty  of  sin.  And 
the  priest  himself,  through  celibacy,  must  be  kept  from 
the  world.  If  the  Church  was  to  be  triumphant,  its 
servants  must  be  free  from  the  joys  and  cares  of,  earth. 
No  priest  should  have  wife  and  children  to  divert  his 
love  from  Christ,  capturing  his  time,  and  tempting  him 
to  seek  wealth  for  their  support.  The  custom,  too,  of 
lay  investiture  must  cease.  The  ring  and  staff,  symbols 
of  initiation  into  dignified  ecclesiastical  offices,  were  be- 
stowed by  lay  hands,  and  usually  for  gold.  No  theory, 
however  specious,  that  the  practice  was  simply  a  feudal 
arransfement  where  churchmen  held  lands,  would 
satisfy  Hildebrand.  He  would  not  have  the  ark  of 
the  Church  touched  by  a  layman's  hand,  and  the 
custom  must  cease  in  order  that  a  gross  evil  might  be 
removed  and  spiritual  independence  be  established. 

The  monastery  of  Cluny,  having  set  its  own  house 
in  order,  could  honestly  command  and  require  a  general 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


monastic  reformation.  Hildebrand  went  further  when 
he  made  freedom  from  the  world  an  ideal  for  all  clerics 
alike.  Cut  off  from  secular  interests,  they  would  yield 
obedience  to  none  but  their  superiors,  and  thus  the 
autonomy  of  the  Church  would  be  established.  Priests 
had  their  bishops,  and  bishops  their  supreme  pontiff,  to 
instruct  and  o^uide  them.  Asceticism  and  obedience^ 
w^ould  bring  to  pass  that  kingdom  of  God  which  the 
gospel  had  promised,  and  which  Augustine,  with  thel 
unity  of  Imperial  Rome  before  him,  had  pictured ;  and 
in  this  kingdom  the  pope  would  be  the  vice-gerent  of 
Christ,  in  this  universal  Church  His  vicar.  Let  ecclesi-)) 
astics  be  freed  from  the  world  and  the  divine  kingdomjl 
would  come,  wherein  earthl}^  interests  would  yield  tql 
spiritual  concerns.  The  Hildebrandine  policy  had  for 
its  aim  the  removal  of  secular  control  from  the  Church, 
in  order  that  it  might  have  liberty  and  then  supremacy; 
and  to  secure  this  end,  the  asceticism  and  obedience  of 
clerics  were  required.  With  temporary  and  partial 
success,  but  with  unrelenting  vigour,  Hildebrand 
opposed  the  simony  which  everywhere  was  working 
harm.  In  his  crusade  against  clerical  marriage  he  was 
victor  in  so  far  as  celibacy  was  established  or  renewed 
as  a  law,  though  not  till  the  Reformation  did  decency 
become  the  general  custom  of  priestly  life.  The  strife 
over  investitures  was  more  than  a  question  of  spiritual 
independence  :  it  was  the  duel  between  pope  and  em- 
peror for  supremacy.  During  the  youth  of  the  emperor, 
Henry  iv.,  the  German  clergy  were  being  brought  into 
obedience  to  Rome ;  but  reaching  manhood,  he  deter- 
mined to  strike  a  blow  for  national  freedom.  No 
Italian  bishop  should  rule  his  clergy,  and  his  own 
obedience  would  not  be  given  to  Hildebrand.  Henry's 


6  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


stroke  was  met  by  a  counter-stroke,  against  which  he 
could  not  stand  :  "  For  the  honour  and  security  of  the 
Church,  in  the  name  of  the  Almighty  Triune  God,  I  do 
prohibit  Henry,  king,  son  of  Henry  the  emperor,  from 
ruling  the  kingdom  of  the  Teutons  and  of  Italy,  and  I 
release  all  Christians  from  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
him  which  they  have  taken,  or  shall  take."  The  words 
were  a  declaration  of  the  right  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
to  dispose  of  political  causes ;  and  for  this  supremacy 
all  other  concerns,  even  piety  itself,  were  sacrificed. 
The  supremacy  was  no  mere  semblance  of  power. 
Hadrian  iv.,  the  poor  scholar  who  had  wandered  from 
England  to  Rome,  trafficked  in  the  islands  of  the  sea, 
and  gave  Ireland  to  Henry  il.,  king  of  a  land  where  he, 
Nicholas  Brakspere,  had  been  a  beggar.  Innocent  iii., 
receiving  the  crown  of  England  from  John,  returned 
it  to  him  as  his  vassal.  In  the  century  after  Francis 
and  Dominic  had  adopted  poverty,  Boniface  viii.,  cloth- 
ing himself  in  imperial  garments,  claimed  the  title  of 
emperor,  as  some  have  it,  and,  of  a  truth,  ruined  the 
papacy  that  he  might  be  more  than  a  bishop. 

Medieval  Church  policy  meant  supremacy  in  things 
spiritual  and  temporal,  and  for  this  policy  Hildebrand 
was  mainly  responsible.  In  his  strife  with  Henry  the 
stroke  and  the  counter-stroke  were  followed  by  the 
tragic  scene  of  Canossa.  Of  the  great  pope  it  can  be 
said,  indeed,  that  he  put  down  the  mighty  from  his  seat. 
With  heavy  step  Henry  climbed  to  the  mountain  for- 
tress of  Canossa.  For  three  days,  standing  barefooted 
on  the  snow,  and  clad  in  a  coarse  woollen  shirt,  Henry, 
son  of  an  emperor,  himself  the  uncrowned  Emperor  of 
Rome,  sought  admission  to  Hildebrand,  the  son  of  a 
carpenter  of  Savona.    When  at  last  he  entered  the 


INTRODUCTION 


7 


presence  of  the  pope,  it  was  to  throw  himself  on  the 
^^rouncl,  saying :  "  Spare  me,  holy  father, — spare  me." 
Hildebrand  had  triumphed,  but  the  day  of  triumph 
was  short.  Christendom  was  not  prepared  to  accept 
the  rule  of  a  priest.  His  last  words,  when  he  lay  dying 
at  Salerno,  are  well  known :  "  I  have  loved  righteous- 
ness and  hated  iniquity — therefore  I  die  in  exile " ; 
and  significant  was  the  reply  of  one  of  the  c;irdinals : 
"  Nay,  in  exile  thou  canst  not  die,  who  as  vicar  of 
Christ  and  His  apostles  hast  received  the  utmost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  thy  possession."  The  reply  was  indeed 
significant:  it  gave  voice  to  the  aspiration  of  the 
Roman  Church. 

The  Hildebrandine  policy,  at  its  best,  was  an  attempt 
to  save  the  Church  from  the  evils  of  feudalism,  and  to 
secure  the  domination  of  religion.  Let  the  Medieval 
Church  be  viewed  in  its  place  in  the  midst  of  an  ignor- 
ant, enslaved,  and  unspiritual  people,  governed  by  kings 
and  nobles,  selfish  and  cruel,  and  Hildebrand  may  be 
counted  an  ecclesiastical  reformer  seeking  to  remove 
pollution,  and  justified  as  an  autocrat  who  enforced 
religion. 

The  kinordom  of  God  did  not  come  throuo-h  asceticism 
and  obedience.  Simony  was  checked  but  not  stopped. 
A  suspicion  has  arisen,  but  it  is  nothing  more,  that 
Hildebrand  desired  the  traffic  in  livings  to  pass  into 
the  hands  of  the  popes.  The  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
w^hich  has  roused  the  wrath  of  moralists,  was  not  alien 
to  the  ethical  ideals  of  the  time,  and  the  system  gave 
to  the  Church  an  army  for  religion.  The  abolition  of 
lay  investiture,  the  freedom  of  the  clergy  from  the 
slavery  imposed  by  feudal  masters,  was  the  only  hope 
of  the  unity  of  the  Church.   The  Hildebrandine  policy. 


8 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


in  so  far  as  it  meant  the  spiritual  independence  of  an 
institution  existing  for  the  promotion  of  religion,  was 
of  value,  and  the  methods  employed  to  realise  it  har- 
monised with  the  recoo-nised  moral  ideas.  But  it  had 
its  worldly  side,  even  in  the  case  of  Hildebrand  him- 
self, and  in  the  age  of  Innocent  IIL,  and  notably  of 
Boniface  viii.,  that  side  was  prominent.  Thus  into  the 
Church  there  came  a  worldly  ideal,  a  dream  of  earthly 
supremacy,  a  vision  of  absolute  political  power,  with 
the  pope  ruling  kings  as  puppets. 

During  the  reign  of  Innocent  III.,  in  which  the 
Church  reached  its  height  of  worldly  success,  Francis 
and  Dominic  appeared.  It  was  indeed  a  comprehen- 
sive religion  which  produced  Innocent  and  Francis,  a 
Catholic  Church  which  included  that  king  of  kings 
and  that  poorest  of  beggars  who  would  not  have  a 
place  of  his  own  whereon  to  lay  his  head.  From 
Hildebrand  to  Innocent  the  Church  had  been  stead- 
fast, with  varied  success,  in  its  purpose  of  supremacy. 
At  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  the  first  Crusade 
was  proclaimed,  and  in  the  effusion  of  piety  Urban  ii. 
was  recognised  as  the  head  of  Christendom,  attaining  a 
dignity  never  awarded  to  Hildebrand  himself.  When 
the  enthusiasm  for  the  holy  places  of  the  East  died 
away,  the  Church  returned  to  its  strife  for  power. 
There  was  one  man,  Paschal  ii.,  who  would  have  yielded 
all  the  Church's  possessions,  save  the  patrimony  of  St. 
Peter,  and  would  have  secured  ecclesiastical  freedom 
by  rendering  to  Caesar  the  things  which  Caesar 
claimed. 

A  priestly  tumult  arose.  Paschal,  however,  was 
more  alarmed  by  the  presence  of  the  German  hosts, 
and  accordingly  surrendered  to  Henry  v.  the  right  of 


INTRODUCTION 


9 


investiture,  bestowing  at  the  same  time  the  imperial 
crown.  The  Church,  on  the  other  hand,  having  entered 
into  possession  of  a  definite  policy,  would  not,  in  spite 
of  its  pope,  betray  its  trust,  yielding  what  its  fanati- 
cism cherished  as  its  divine  right.  Under  Calixtus  ii. 
its  triumph  came;  and,  through  stress  of  anathema 
and  excommunication,  Henry  agreed  to  the  concordat  of 
Worms,  abandoninof  his  title  to  invest  with  ecclesias- 
tical  symbol,  and  giving,  according  to  priestly  inter- 
pretation, to  God  the  things  that  were  God's. 

In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  the  State,  in 
its  opposition  to  the  Church,  gained  a  champion  in 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  great  as  the  king  of  his  people 
and  to  be  mourned  as  their  military  hero.  Hadrian  iv. 
w^as  the  ardent  representative  of  Hildebrandism,  against 
whom  Frederick  maintained  that  the  imperial  dignity, 
neither  the  gift  nor  the  creation  of  the  Church,  was  in 
itself  di\4ne.  For  emphasis  of  this  theory  he  neglected 
a  custom  said  to  have  been  begun  by  Constantine  the 
Great,  refusing  to  hold  the  pope's  stirrup,  or  touching 
the  left  instead  of  the  right.  It  was  Frederick's  en- 
deavour to  establish  in  Italy  a  German  power  which 
would  control  the  Church,  but  in  his  campaign  he  had 
to  meet  more  than  the  strength  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 
French  and  English  gold  secured  the  opposition  of 
the  Roman  people ;  and  in  the  north  of  Italy  the 
Lombard  cities  embraced  the  papal  cause,  eager  to 
secure  their  independence  from  imperial  domination. 
Barbarossa  failed,  without  forfeiture  of  military  re- 
nown, since  he  could  not  fight  against  the  plague  which 
devastated  his  army  and  drove  him  over  the  Alps. 
At  Legnano,  after  an  alliance  between  the  pope  and 
the  Lombard  cities,  Frederick  was  defeated ;  and  later, 


lo  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 

at  a  meeting  in  Venice,  the  emperor  did  not  refuse 
to  Pope  Alexander  iii.  that  courtesy  which  he  had 
denied  to  Hadrian. 

The  empire  under  Barbarossa  could  not  regain  the 
control  over  the  Church  which  Otto  the  Great  and 
Henry  ill.  had  exercised,  before  Hildebrand  arose  with 
his  cry  of  spiritual  independence  ;  and  yet  if  ever  there 
was  a  hope  of  recovering  that  supremacy,  it  lived  when 
Frederick  Barbarossa  reigned.  He  died  in  his  march 
to  the  East  as  a  Crusader,  and  his  Germans  promised 
themselves  that  he  would  come  again.  None  worthier 
came  to  wear  the  imperial  crown,  and  none  so  re- 
nowned ;  but  a  great  pope.  Innocent  iii.,  was  yet  to 
frustrate  his  policy  and  to  gain  that  political  dominion 
which  was  the  hope  of  all  the  Bishops  of  Rome. 

While  the  papacy  was  rising  to  its  height  new 
monastic  Orders  were  founded,  which  drew  the  pious 
out  of  the  ways  of  the  world.  The  Camaldolese, 
Vallombrosians,  Carthusians,  and  Cistercians,  to  take 
examples,  marked  a  monastic  revival.  St.  Bernard, 
the  most  distinguished  of  the  Cistercians,  was  at 
once  the  pious  recluse,  the  popular  preacher,  and 
the  ruler  of  the  Church.  The  crusade  inaugurated 
by  Urban  ii.  had  quickened  the  religious  sentiment 
of  Christendom,  as  the  holy  places  had  called  up  the 
image  of  the  suffering  Christ.  Bernard  was  strongly 
affected  by  this  sentiment,  and  the  Crucified  became 
the  object  of  his  mystic  contemplation.  In  his  mon- 
astic life  he  practised  poverty  in  a  fashion  to  which 
the  older  Orders  were  strangers,  but  the  poverty  was 
joined  to  the  severe  routine  of  the  cloister.  When  he 
preached,  the  intensity  of  his  piety  touched  the  hearts 
of  the  people ;  and  more  than  other  monk  or  priest  of 


INTRODUCTION 


the  twelfth  century  ho  fostered  religion.  Yet  with  the 
cause  of  religion  he  identified  the  cause  of  the  Church, 
and  no  disparity  was  suggested  by  him  between  Christ 
and  His  reputed  representative  on  the  papal  throne. 
He  laboured  for  the  Church,  silencing  Abelard,  crushing 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  and  directing  Innocent  ii.  These 
labours,  however,  did  not  impede  his  mission  among 
the  people,  and  his  poverty  and  his  piety  made  him  the 
accepted  evangelist  of  the  century  before  Francis  and 
Dominic. 

In  the  year  1198,  Cardinal  Lothair  ascended  the 
papal  throne  as  Innocent  ill.    The  son  of  an  Italian 
noble  of  the  anti-imperialist  party,  the  nephew  of  a 
pope,  Lothair  rose  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight.    During  a  retirement  from  Kome, 
when  Coelestine  ill.  was  pope,  he  wrote  a  treatise 
styled,  "Contempt  of  the  World  and  the  Misery  of 
Human  Life,"  displaying  a  monastic  spirit  which  might 
have  made  a  saint  of  him  had  he  not  been  raised  to 
the  high  place  of  dominion.    Called  to  rule,  he  was 
ready  for  a  task  which  required  not  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  monk  but  the  wisdom  of  a  statesman.  Disorder 
was  rampant  in  the  nations,  and  the  golden  opportunity 
had  come  for  the  Church,  which  had  in  Innocent  its 
strongest  man  since  Hildebrand.    In  the  empire  Inno- 
cent played  with  the  rivalry  of  Otto  of  Brunswick  and 
Philip  of  Swabia,  and  changed  German  history  at 
his  will  by  placing  on  the  imperial  stage  the  heir  of 
the  Hohenstaufen,  the  future  Frederick  ii.    In  France 
Innocent  appeared  as  the  guardian  of  morality  and  the 
saviour  of  the  oppressed.     Philip  Augustus  had  put 
away  Ingeburga,  his  Danish  wife,  in  whose  conduct 
there  was  no  cause  for  a  divorce.    The  French  clergy 


12  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


had  granted  divorce,  and  the  queen  had  appealed  to 
Rome.  Pope  Coelestine  had  quailed  before  the  haughti- 
ness of  Philip,  but  Innocent  was  a  different  man,  and 
in  him  the  French  king  and  clergy  alike  found  a 
master.  The  nation  was  placed  under  interdict,  so 
that  the  offices  of  religion  ceased.  The  king  was 
compelled  to  send  away  his  beloved  Agnes  of  Meran, 
and  to  take  back  the  despised  and  injured  Ingeburga. 
In  England,  in  the  conflict  of  tyranny  and  freedom, 
King  John  resigned  his  crown,  to  receive  it  back 
as  a  vassal  of  the  pope.  In  the  south  of  France, 
during  the  crusade  against  the  heretics.  Innocent 
made  his  name  terrible,  displaying  stern  and  unre- 
lenting vigour.  The  crusade  to  the  East  which  he 
inaugurated  failed  to  place  Christianity  victorious 
over  its  Mohammedan  foes ;  but  it  seated  a  Latin  kino- 
and  established  a  Latin  Church  in  Constantinople. 
Neither  kingdom  nor  church  was  to  endure,  yet  both 
continued  bej'ond  the  limit  of  his  reign  and  increased 
the  splendour  of  his  rule.  The  kings  of  Portugal,  Leon, 
and  Aragon  each  owned  his  sovereign  power,  which 
was  extended  over  Bohemia,  Hungary,  and  Poland. 
Throughout  the  whole  Church  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
was  supreme ;  and  Rome  itself  was  now  recognised 
as  the  court  of  appeal  for  the  ecclesiastics  of  all 
lands. 

The  day  for  the  assembling  of  the  Fourth  Lateran 
Council,  1215,  was  the  day  of  the  Church's  triumph. 
Representatives  of  the  emperors  of  the  East  and  West, 
Eastern  patriarchs.  Western  bishops,  made  a  cloud  of 
witnesses  to  the  commanding  power  of  Innocent,  and 
to  the  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  When 
Innocent  first  ascended  the  papal  throne  these  words 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


were  used  in  the  inauguration  sermon  :  "  Ye  see  what 
manner  of  servant  that  is  whom  the  Lord  hath  set  over 
His  people ;  no  other  than  the  vice-gerent  of  Christ, 
tlie  successor  of  Peter.  He  stands  in  the  midst  between 
God  and  man :  below  God,  above  man ;  less  than  God, 
more  than  man.  He  judges  all,  is  judged  by  none  ;  for 
it  is  written,  /  ivill  judge.  But  he  whom  the  pre- 
eminence of  dignity  exalts  is  lowered  by  his  office  of 
a  servant,  that  so  humility  may  be  exalted  and  pride 
abased ;  for  God  is  against  the  high-minded,  and  to  the 
lowly  He  shows  mercy  ;  and  he  who  exaltetli  himself  shall 
be  abased."  The  pope  thus  introduced  did  not  scruple 
to  change  the  text  of  the  Vulgate  in  order  to  gain  a 
biblical  sanction  for  his  official  power  over  life  and 
death.  He  taught,  too,  with  Hildebrand,  that  the  royal 
dignity  is  to  the  papal  as  the  moon  to  the  sun,  from 
which  it  o^ets  its  liorht :  and  he  also  used  the  simile  of 
the  body  and  the  soul.  It  was  he  who  claimed  possession 
of  the  two  swords,  -symbols  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
power ;  and  from  his  reign  till  the  present  the  pope 
has  been  styled  the  vicar  of  Christ,  not  simply  the  vicar 
of  St.  Peter.  At  the  Lateran  Council,  addressing  the 
multitude  of  clerics,  the  pope  took  for  his  own  use  the 
words,  "With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  pass- 
over  with  you  before  I  suffer."  It  seemed  as  if  he  felt 
that  his  own  end  was  near,  or  knew  that  the  day  of 
the  Church's  triumph  would  soon  be  spent.  But  that 
(lay  might  well  have  appeared  to  others  the  noon- 
time of  a  glory  that  would  never  pass.  Rome  was 
the  centre  of  the  Church :  its  bishop  the  head 
of  Christendom,  the  lord  of  kings,  the  master  of 
peoples. 

Rome  had  conquered,  yet  the  victory  was  gained  at 


14  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  expense  of  religion,  as  the  innumerable  sectaries 
showed  who  sought  guidance  beyond  the  Church,  and 
listened  to  a  gospel  no  priest  would  proclaim.  Heresy 
was  rampant,  because  the  Church  had  turned  from 
Christ  to  the  world,  and  her  servants  had  not  gone 
forth  into  the  highways  and  byways  of  Christendom, 
to  teach  the  people  the  orthodox  creed  and  to  lead  them 
into  truth.  Innocent  himself  was  not  ignorant  of  the 
perversion  of  the  Church,  and  when  the  mendicants 
appeared  and  offered,  though  they  were  not  all  priests, 
,  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
land  the  doctrines  of  theology,  he  did  not  seek  to  crush 
jthem,  but  retained  them  as  obedient  servants.  Thus 
it  happened  that  when  religion  was  impotent  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  the  friars  arose  and  stirred  it  into 
life  and  strength  ;  and  when  the  Church  was  a  worldly 
institution  and  her  priests  had  departed  from  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  these  friars  devoted  themselves  to  the 
missionary  labour  to  which  He  had  consecrated  Him- 
self. Their  ideal  was  noble,  their  aim  the  loftiest, 
while  yet  they  retained  the  zeal  and  piety  of  their 
founders ;  but  ere  many  years  had  passed  after  their 
recognition  as  Orders,  the  Church  succeeded  in  binding 
them  to  her  own  worldly  uses.  Rome  profited  by  their 
foundation.  Her  dominion  over  the  ecclesiastics  of 
any  land  might  perish  through  the  combination  of  a 
national  clergy ;  but  such  a  combination,  she  saw,  was 
little  likely  to  be  formed  if  the  mendicants  who  had 
broken  worldly  ties  acted  as  her  emissaries.  /  Her 
political  power  might  suffer  with  the  death  of  the 
great  pope  to  whom  the  earth  seemed  given  for  a 
possession  ;  but  it  might  be  saved  if  the  mendicants, 
wandering  in  all  countries,  preached  the  gospel  of 


INTRODUCTION 


15 


papal  supremacy  ^lany  were  the  offices  of  the  friars. 
They  spread  throughout  the  world,  tilling  the  seats  of 
learning,  attaining  ecclesiastical  pre-eminence,  serving 
as  directors  of  kings,  acting  as  instructors  of  the  people ; 
now  reviving  religion,  now  quickening  church  life,  and 
preserving  for  Rome  a  semblance  at  least  of  that  power 
which  Hildebrand  had  sought  and  Innocent  wielded, 
retaininof  for  her  a  frao^ment  of  that  domain  which 
the  one  had  seen  in  vision  and  the  other  had  beheld 
extending  from  sea  to  sea. 


CHAPTER  II 


St  Francis 

In  the  year  1182 — the  exact  date  is  uncertain — a  child 
was  born  who  was  to  be  known  as  St.  Francis  of  Assisi. 
The  father  of  the  boy  was  Pietro  Bernardone,  a  pros- 
perous cloth  merchant.  Little  has  been  learned  of  the 
mother,  Pica,  who  bore  her  son  while  her  husband  was 
absent  on  one  of  his  commercial  travels ;  but  the 
association  of  Francis  in  early  manhood  with  the 
young  nobles  of  Assisi,  his  knowledge  of  French,  and 
his  saintly  character  and  purpose,  suggestive  at  least  of 
the  customs  and  ideals  of  the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,  have 
made  the  assertion  plausible,  that  she  was  of  a  noble 
family  of  Provence.  The  scenery,  climate,  and  vegeta- 
tion of  Umbria,  in  which  Assisi  lies,  were  at  once 
grand  and  charming  influences  which  touched  the 
j^outh  and  manhood  of  the  poet  saint.  At  his  baptism 
the  child  received  the  name  of  John,  which  the  father 
afterwards  changed  to  Francis,  very  likely  through 
fondness  for  France,  to  which  his  business  often  led 
him.  According  to  another  version,  the  name  was 
given  because  of  the  facility  with  which  the  boy 
acquired  the  French  tongue  ;  while  another  theory  has 
it  that  the  man  of  business  intended  a  compliment  to 
his  French  wife.  All  through  his  life  that  tongue  was 
dear  to  Francis  by  its  poetic  associations,  as  it  was  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


17 


language  of  the  Troubadours,  whose  songs  enchanted 
his  youth  and  lingered  in  his  memory.  Tradition  has 
not  failed  to  tell  of  miracles  surrounding  the  infancy 
of  the  boy,  in  order  to  mark  a  likeness  to  the  fabled 
childhood  of  Christ.  Francis  received  the  education 
given  to  children  of  rich  parents,  and,  meagre  though  it 
was,  it  secured  for  him  a  knowledge  of  Latin  sufficient 
to  make  him  understand  the  ritual  of  the  Church,  and 
love  its  hymns,  which  he  was  wont  to  sing  by  the 
wayside.  When  the  school  education  was  finished  he 
joined  his  father  in  business,  and  came  into  contact 
with  the  merchants  who  sold  and  the  poor  who  bought. 
At  the  same  time,  in  spite  of  trade,  the  youth  w^as 
received  by  the  sons  of  the  nobles  of  the  place,  who 
were  willing  to  have  a  companion  with  the  money 
which  the  ambition  of  Pietro  Bernardone  supplied. 
Thus  Francis  led  the  life  of  a  trader  and  of  a  young 
man  of  fashion,  of  fashion  embracing  prodigality  and 
perhaps  licentiousness,  yet  saved  from  coarseness  and 
vulgarity  by  the  leaven  of  the  Troubadours,  who  were 
then  making  for  refinement  in  Italy.  Companies  of 
youths  would  band  together  to  sing  the  light  Pro- 
vencal songs  and  to  follow  the  gay  practices  of  the 
Troubadours,  and  occasionally  Francis,  with  his  sweet 
and  flexible  voice,  was  a  chosen  leader.  The  songs, 
however,  were  not  always  light,  but  sometimes  were 
touched  by  piety  or  inspired  by  the  noble  deeds  of 
heroes.  His  education,  in  the  school  of  the  Trouba- 
dours, more  than  the  education  of  the  Church's  school, 
prepared  him  for  the  wandering  life  of  poverty  in 
which  his  love  to  Christ  had  a  lyric  sweetness  and  his 
actions  for  men  had  often  the  character  of  romance. 
Associated  with  nobles  though  he  was,  Francis  took 
2 


1 8  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  popular  side  in  a  contest  of  the  people  against  the 
aristocrats.  He  was  no  mere  man  of  fashion  afraid  of 
the  sword ;  no  mere  hanger-on  to  men  of  rich  degree, 
prepared  through  right  and  wrong  ever  to  defend  their 
cause.  He  was  ready  to  use  the  sword,  and  used  it  in 
a  war  between  Perugia  and  his  own  city  when  Assisi 
joined  in  the  struggle  for  freedom  from  German  rule. 
Taken  captive,  he  was  led  to  Perugia,  where  he  was 
confined  for  a  year  in  a  prison,  the  site  of  which  is  now 
occupied  by  the  palace  of  the  Capitano  del  Popolo.  In 
that  prison  pious  forces  may  have  worked  in  his  soul, 
yet  on  his  return  to  Assisi  he  pursued  his  old  ways,  till 
struck  down  by  illness.  On  his  recovery  he  arranged 
to  go  with  a  certain  knight  of  Assisi  who  was  setting 
forth  to  fight,  along  with  Walter  of  Brienne,  on  the 
pope's  side  against  the  imperialists.  Military  life,  not 
alien  to  a  character  inspired  by  the  better  and  heroic 
verses  of  the  Troubadours,  was  now  his  ideal.  Prepara- 
tions were  made  in  magnificent  style,  and  he  marched 
forth  in  pomp.  At  Spoleto,  however,  he  was  struck 
down  with  fever,  and  his  career  as  a  soldier  was  ended. 
Returning  home  he  changed  his  manner  of  life.  In 
vain  his  friends  sought  to  win  him  back  to  their 
pleasures.  One  day,  taunted  as  a  youth  in  love,  he 
declared :  "  I  am  thinking  of  taking  a  wife  more 
beautiful,  more  rich,  more  pure  than  you  could  ever 
imagine."  This,  some  afiirm,  was  religion  ;  others  more 
truly  say  that  it  was  the  Lady  Poverty  whom  his 
sentimental  imagination  so  styled,  and  whom  Dante  has 
wedded  to  his  name.  The  chevalier  must  have  a  lady 
for  his  devotion ;  and  Francis,  who  had  not  cut  himself 
off'  from  all  his  former  fancies,  was  to  take  Poverty  as 
the  lady  of  his  heart.    His  love  of  poverty  was  not. 


ST.  FRANCIS 


19 


however,  at  once  made  known  ;  and  if  this  story  of  liis 
taking  a  wife  is  true,  it  may  be  accepted  that  neither 
sudden  impulse  nor  unexpected  revelation,  but  calm 
deliberation,  led  him  to  the  mendicant  life. 
Thus  Dante  sang  of  him — 

"  For  he,  a  youth,  his  father's  wrath  did  dare 

For  maid,  for  whom  not  one  of  all  the  crowd, 
As  she  were  death,  would  pleasure's  gates  unbar. 

And  then  before  court  spiritual  he  vowed, 
Et  coram  patre — marriage-pledge  to  her. 

And  day  by  day  more  fervent  love  he  showed. 
Of  her  first  spouse  bereaved,  a  thousand  were, 

And  more,  the  years  she  lived,  despised,  obscure, 
And  till  he  came,  none  did  his  suit  prefer. 

But  lest  I  tell  it  too  obscurely  so. 

By  these  two  lovers,  in  my  speech  diffuse, 
Thou  Poverty  and  Francis  now  may'st  know." 

Giotto,  in  a  fresco  in  Assisi,  has  shown  Francis  placing 
the  ring  on  the  finger  of  his  bride,  who,  though 
crowned  with  roses,  is  dressed  in  poor  garments,  and 
has  her  feet  bruised  with  stones  and  torn  with  briars. 

After  the  illness  at  Spoleto,  and  the  retiral  from 
military  service,  the  religious  conversion  of  Francis 
was  in  progress.  What  w^as  the  influence  of  these 
events  on  his  character  cannot  be  told,  as  the  history 
of  his  conversion  can  be  but  dimly  traced.  He  went  to 
Rome,  and  was  disappointed.  The  faithful  gave  but 
little,  even  at  the  shrine  of  the  apostles.  He  himself 
would  be  splendid  in  his  charity,  as  he  had  been  in  his 
gaiety,  and  he  emptied  his  purse  as  a  pious  gift  to 
St.  Peter.  In  the  papal  city  he  saw  a  multitude  of 
beggars,  and  the  sight  suggested  an  experiment.  From 
one  of  them  he  borrowed  his  rags,  lending  him  his  own 


20  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


garments,  and  stood  for  a  day  as  a  mendicant,  that  he 
might  enter  into  the  secret  of  poverty.  Experience 
was  not  slow  to  help  him  in  his  pious  progress.  One 
day  he  met  a  leper,  and  in  repulsion  turned  away. 
But  seized  by  remorse,  he  hastened  to  kiss  the  loath- 
some hand  and  pour  out  his  money.  Legend  has 
touched  this  story.  The  leper  vanished,  and  then 
Francis,  like  Sir  Launfal  in  "  The  Vision,"  knew  that 
he  had  ministered  unto  Christ. 

"  And  tlie  voice  that  was  calmer  than  silence  said, 
'  Lo,  it  is  I,  be  not  afraid.'  " 

Soon  afterwards  Francis  entered  a  leper  home  as  a 
visitor,  to  carry  sympathy  to  the  victims  of  disease 
whom  society  had  banished  from  its  midst.  He  would 
discipline  himself  to  the  hardest  duty,  and  it  was  no 
easy  task  to  which  he  gave  himself.  "  The  excellent 
reader,"  says  Heine,  "  does  not  require  to  be  told  how 
terrible  a  complaint  was  leprosy  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  how  the  poor  wretches  who  had  this  incurable 
plague  were  banished  from  society,  and  had  to  keep  at 
a  distance  from  any  human  being.  Like  living  corpses, 
in  a  grey  gown  reaching  down  to  the  feet,  and  with 
the  hood  brought  over  their  face,  they  went  about, 
carrying  in  their  hands  an  enormous  rattle,  called  Saint 
Lazarus's  rattle.  With  this  rattle  they  gave  notice  of 
their  approach,  that  every  one  might  have  time  to  get 
out  of  their  way." 

Leprosy  had  spread  in  Italy  and  other  countries  of 
the  West,  especially  after  the  return  of  the  Crusaders. 
Medical  science  was  powerless,  and  the  afflicted  were 
ostracised,  and  too  often  there  was  no  one  to  tend  their 
bodies  and  none  to  heed  their  souls.    Francis,  following 


ST.  FRANCIS 


Christ,  required  no  other  example  to  draw  him  to  the 
lepers,  though  he  may  have  heard  that  the  Poor  Men 
of  Lyons  had  not  forgotten  them.  His  humanity 
inspired  him  to  seek  the  outcasts,  and  his  piety  traced 
in  them  the  divine  image,  their  foul  disease  notwith- 
standing. In  his  Testament  he  declared  when  dying : 
"  When  I  was  in  the  bondage  of  sin  it  was  bitter  to  me 
and  loathsome  to  see  and  look  upon  persons  infected 
with  leprosy,  but  that  blessed  Lord  brought  me  among 
them,  and  I  did  mercy  with  them ;  and  when  I 
departed  from  them,  what  seemed  bitter  and  loath- 
some was  turned  and  changed  to  me  into  great  sweetness 
and  comfort  both  of  body  and  soul."  According  to 
the  Speculum  Vita3,  it  was  ordained  "  that  the  friars 
of  his  Order,  dispersed  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
•  should  for  the  love  of  Christ  diligently  attend  the 
lepers  wherever  they  could  be  found " ;  and  these 
friars,  urging  sanitation,  and  exhibiting  medical  skill, 
helped  to  remove  the  curse  from  Europe.  One  of  his 
first  acts,  after  his  adoption  of  poverty  as  the  way  of 
life,  was  to  visit  the  leper  house  to  which  he  had  gone 
when  his  apparel  was  rich.  Now  he  went  in  poverty. 
He  tended  the  lepers  for  a  time,  and  rejoiced  that  he 
had  found  something  to  do  for  Christ's  sake. 

The  crisis  of  his  religious  conversion  was  reached, 
according  to  one  story,  on  a  day  when  he  was  praying 
before  a  crucifix  in  the  poor  Church  of  St.  Damian. 
The  Christ  of  the  cross  seemed  to  be  alive  and  to  say 
that  He  accepted  the  service  ofiered  in  his  prayer: 
"  Be  found  of  me.  Lord,  so  that  in  all  things  I  may  act 
only  in  accordance  with  Thy  holy  will."  Difliculties 
now  arose  with  his  father,  but  he  desired  to  leave  all 
and  follow  Christ  in  poverty,  humility,  and  love. 


22  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Stripped  of  all  his  possessions,  for  he  had  given  back 
to  his  angry  father  even  his  very  clothes,  he  went  out 
into  the  world  with  nothing  but  old  garments  which 
Jiad  been  given  him  in  charity.  This  was  the  turning 
point  of  his  life :  thus  did  he  answer  the  call  of  Christ. 
He  entered  into  no  cloister,  but  went  out  into  the 
world  for  Christ's  sake,  and  was  as  poor  as  He  was. 
Poverty  did  not  disconcert  him :  it  was  the  badge  of 
his  service,  and  as  he  walked  on  the  roads  round  Assisi 
he  sang  as  one  who  served  in  joy. 

His  first  refuge  was  with  the  priest  of  St.  Damian. 
Legend  tells  that  as  he  prayed  in  the  church  a  voice 
said,  "  Go  repair  my  house  which  is  falling  into  ruin," 
and  that  he  took  the  words  as  a  command  to  restore 
the  ruined  chapel  in  which  he  knelt,  heedless  of  the 
great  Catholic  Church  then  sinking  into  spiritual 
desolation.  Obedient  to  his  heavenly  vision,  he  set 
about  the  work  of  repair.  He  had  some  skill  in  build- 
ing, but  having  no  materials  he  begged  for  stones  for 
the  pious  labour.  At  the  same  time  he  had  nothing  to 
eat,  and  he  asked  for  bread.  The  broken  bread  which 
he  received  was  his  sacrament  of  poverty.  Other 
ruined  churches  demanded  his  attention,  and  on  one 
of  those  he  laboured,  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  of  the 
Portiuncula,  which,  under  the  name  of  Santa  Maria 
degli  Angeli,  became  the  cradle  of  Franciscanism. 

The  legend  of  this  church  is  extremely  fanciful. 
Originally  known  as  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  di 
Josaphat,  it  was  founded  by  four  pilgrims  from 
Jerusalem  who  carried  with  them  a  fragment  of  the 
tomb  of  the  Virgin  in  the  valley  of  Jehosaphat,  and  a 
part  of  one  of  her  garments.  In  516  it  was  rebuilt  by 
St.  Benedict,  who  changed  its  name  to  Portiuncula,  and 


ST.  FRANCIS 


23 


afterwards  to  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  as  angels  came 
and  sano-  in  it.  Another  letjend  tells  how  the  name 
Portiuncula  was  given  to  an  indulgence  famous  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  One  night  Francis  learned  by 
revelation  that  Christ  and  the  Virfjin  waited  him  in 
this  church.  Christ  told  him  that  He  would  grant 
a  boon  for  the  salvation  of  men,  and  the  request  was 
thereupon  made  that  those  who  entered  the  Portiun- 
cula should  obtain  pardon  for  all  sins  confessed  to  a 
priest,  and  for  which  penance  had  been  done.  At  the 
intercession  of  the  Virgin,  Christ  consented,  with  the 
provision  that  the  pope  should  signify  agreement. 
Pope  Honorius,  after  making  certain  modifications, 
notably  the  restriction  of  it  to  one  day,  lest  the 
indulgences  for  the  Holy  Land  should  be  injured, 
gave  his  consent ;  and  the  indulgence  was  afterwards 
extended  to  other  churches.  Thus  did  Francis  with 
his  consecration  to  poverty  become  the  agent,  according 
to  this  leorend,  through  whom  a  valuable  revenue  w^as 
secured  for  his  Order.  The  first  biographers  of  the 
saint  are  silent  regarding  this  episode,  and  the  Bollan- 
dists  speak  of  it  with  caution.  In  recent  years,  how- 
ever, attention  has  been  paid  to  a  w^riting  of  a  French- 
man, Jacques  de  Vitry,  who,  being  in  Perugia  when 
Innocent  ill.  died,  described  the  election  of  Honorius  III., 
a  simple  and  benevolent  man  who  had  bestowed  almost 
all  his  goods  on  the  poor.  Saddened  by  the  worldliness 
of  the  papal  Court,  the  Frenchman  found  comfort  in 
beholding  the  Friars  Minor,  whom  the  pope  and  car- 
dinals treated  with  respect.  From  the  character  of 
Honorius  and  Francis  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe 
that  they  arranged  an  indulgence  unburdened  with  a 
condition  of  alms.    The  saint,  finding  in  the  pope  a 


24  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


man  after  his  own  heart,  and  desiring  to  give  penitents 
an  outward  sign  of  divine  forgiveness,  may  have 
obtained  from  him  the  sanction  of  an  indulgence  for 
which  no  price  was  to  be  paid.  Attention,  even  to  the 
present  day,  is  directed  to  the  question  of  Francis 
share  in  obtaining  this  indulgence,  and  controversy 
has  arisen.  The  tendency,  however,  is  to  accept  the 
statements,  made  in  certain  documents  of  the  latter 
part  of  the  thirteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  that  the  indulgence  was  established  at  the 
request  of  Francis. 

Nothing  in  the  conduct  of  Francis  pointed  as  yet 
to  missionary  enterprise,  or  to  the  foundation  of  a 
Brotherhood  or  Order.  In  Portiuncula,  however,  he 
was  to  receive  the  call  to  his  missionary  labour,  and  it 
came  to  him  as  if  directly  from  the  lips  of  Christ  Him- 
self. One  day,  it  was  the  year  1209,  he  heard  the 
priest  at  mass  reading,  but  it  was  Christ  who  seemed 
to  say  that  he  should  go  and  preach,  healing  the  sick, 
i  cleansing  the  lepers,  raising  the  dead,  and  casting  out 
I  devils,  and  that  he  should  provide  neither  gold  nor 
silver,  nor  brass,  nor  scrip,  nor  shoes,  nor  staves.  This 
was  the  formal  commission  for  Francis  for  his  labour 
and  his  poverty ;  and  when  he  received  it  he  cast  aside 
staff  and  shoes  and  began  to  preach,  or  rather  to  speak 
to  the  people  words  of  religion.  For  two  years  he  had 
been  preparing  for  his  mission  by  renunciation  of  the 
things  of  the  world,  and  he  who  had  left  all  to  follow 
Christ  had  a  right  to  ask  others  to  go  with  him. 
Francis  entered  upon  his  mission  not  as  a  novice  in 
piety,  but  as  one  having  authority. 

True  to  his  ideal,  Francis  adopted  as  his  dress  the 
brown  woollen  gown,  tied  with  a  rope,  which  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


25 


poorest  men  of  the  district  wore,  and  he  walked  bare- 
footed. Eccleston  tells  of  one  of  the  friars  in  England, 
that  without  permission  he  put  on  sandals  to  go  to 
matins.  He  dreamt  that  he  was  taken  by  robbers, 
who  cried,  "  Kill  him  !  kill  him  ! "  "  But  I  am  a  friar," 
was  the  plea.  "  Thou  liest,"  said  the  robbers,  "  for 
thou  art  not  barefooted."  In  another  of  the  English 
Chronicles  it  is  related  that  one  Christmas  time  two 
of  the  friars,  returning  from  a  chapter  at  Oxford,  sang 
as  they  "  picked  their  way  along  the  rugged  path  over 
the  frozen  mud  and  rigid  snow,  whilst  the  blood  lay  in 
the  track  of  their  naked  feet,  without  their  being 
conscious  of  it."  Dante  gives  us  a  picture  showing 
how  the  Brothers  walked — 

"  Silent,  alone,  with  no  companions  near, 

We  journeyed,  one  before  and  one  behind, 
(So  Minor  Friars  when  they  walk  appear)." 

One  by  one  converts  were  made  who  joined  Francis 
as  brothers  in  poverty.  He  wished,  however,  to  found 
no  Order.  He  simply  desired  men  to  follow  the  life 
of  Christ  in  its  humility,  and  he  preached  Christ  and 
Him  crucified  to  the  world.  A  notable  convert  was 
made  when  Bernardo  di  Quintavalle,  a  rich  man  of 
Assisi,  distributed  his  wealth  among  the  poor.  His 
story  is  told  in  the  Little  Floivers.  Touched  by  the 
patience  of  Francis,  he  invited  him  to  sup  and  lodge 
with  him,  and  he  set  himself  to  observe  his  sanctity. 
Assured  of  that  sanctity,  he  resolved  to  renounce  the 
world,  and  made  known  his  purpose.  "  Bernard,"  was 
the  reply,  "  this  that  thou  sayest  is  a  task  so  great 
and  difficult  that  therefore  must  we  seek  counsel  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."    Together  they  went  to  the 


26  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


bishop's  house,  where  there  was  a  good  priest,  who  at 
the  bidding  of  Francis  made  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and 
opened  the  missal  thrice  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  At  the  first  opening  appeared  the  words : 
"  If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go  and  sell  that  thou  hast, 
and  give  to  the  poor  and  follow  me " ;  at  the  second, 
these  :  "  Take  nothing  for  your  journey,  neither  staves, 
nor  scrip,  neither  bread,  neither  money " ;  and  at  the 
third :  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me."  Then 
Bernard  went  and  sold  all  his  possessions  and  gave  the 
price  to  the  poor.  Among  other  converts  was  one  who 
resigned  a  canonry  in  the  cathedral ;  and  when  these 
men  numbered  seven,  or  twelve,  according  to  the 
Little  Flowers,  Francis  sent  them  forth  two  by  two 
to  preach  the  gospel,  that  he  might  imitate  the  action 
of  Christ. 

A  Brotherhood  or  association  had  been  formed,  not 
an  Order  in  the  strict  sense,  and  some  Rule  must  be 
formulated  or  adopted.  The  words  which  had  been 
accepted  by  Francis  as  a  commission  would  serve  as 
the  basis  of  a  Rule  for  the  Brothers.  Reading  them 
aloud,  he  said :  "  Brothers,  this  is  the  life  and  the  rule 
for  us,  and  for  all  who  may  desire  to  join  us.  Go  and 
do  as  you  have  heard."  Portiuncula,  which  had  been 
granted  for  their  use,  was  the  centre  from  which  the 
new  preachers  went  forth  on  their  mission,  and  yet  it 
was  hardly  a  centre,  as  there  was  no  house  attached  to 
the  church  to  shelter  them  as  a  home.  They  possessed 
nothing,  neither  as  individuals  nor  as  a  Brotherhood, 
and  like  children  careless  of  the  day  wandered  about, 
now  singing  in  their  joy,  now  teaching  or  preaching. 
A  day's  work  would  be  wrought,  and  when  no  man 


ST.  FRANCIS 


27 


gave  them  work  they  would  beg  and  not  be  ashamed. 
Penitents  of  Assisi  they  called  themselves ;  sometimes, 
Joculatores  Domini,  God's  Jongleurs.  With  them  divine 
science  and  the  gay  science  were  akin.  The  Brother- 
hood increased  to  twelve,  says  one  tradition,  the  number 
of  the  disciples,  and  then  it  was  determined  that  the 
Rule  should  be  written  out  and  submitted  to  the  pope. 
That  Rule  has  not  been  preserved,  though  attempts  have 
been  made  from  various  writings  to  piece  it  together. 

Francis,  with  certain  brethren,  set  out  for  Rome  to 
present  the  Rule  to  Innocent.  The  story,  as  told  by 
Bonaventura,  is  that  Innocent,  walking  on  the  terrace  of 
the  Lateran,  saw  the  preachers,  who  seemed  to  be  poor 
peasants,  approach  to  kneel  at  his  feet,  and  despising 
their  rags  bade  them  depart.  The  sovereign  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth  could  have  no  fellowship  with  beggars. 
But  at  night  the  pope  dreamed  that  a  palm  sprouted 
between  his  feet,  reaching  to  a  great  height ;  and  when 
he  awoke  he  connected  his  vision  with  the  poor  men, 
as  a  prophecy  of  their  future  distinction.  Another 
version  is  that  Innocent  beheld  the  great  Church  of  St. 
John  Lateran  falling  to  the  ground,  and  that  suddenly 
it  was  supported  by  the  beggar  whom  he  h^^d  in  the 
daytime  actually  spurned  from  him.  This  dream,  we 
are  told,  was  repeated  when  Dominic  presented  himself 
to  the  pope.  A  later  legend  has  it  that  Francis,  in  the 
papal  presence,  related  a  parable,  how  a  king  had  sons 
by  a  poor  woman,  whom  he  afterwards  recognised  as 
his  children.  This  parable  could  not  have  been  told  by 
Francis,  since  it  represented  the  clergy  as  the  illeg- 
itimate sons  of  the  pope.  The  meeting  of  Francis  and 
Innocent  has  dramatic  and  historic  significance,  and 
there  is  little  wonder  that  Giotto  set  it  forth  in  one 


28  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  his  famous  frescoes.  The  painter  has  represented 
Innocent,  seated  on  the  throne,  turning  wondering  eyes 
on  the  strangers,  who  are  craving  permission  to  live 
after  the  humility  and  poverty  of  Christ. 

In  Rome  Francis  unexpectedly  met  the  Bishop  of 
Assisi,  who,  favouring  his  cause,  commended  him  to 
the  Cardinal  Giovanni  di  San  Paolo.  The  cardinal  in 
turn,  after  much  talk  with  Francis,  introduced  him  to 
the  pope,  saying,  in  the  words  of  the  legend :  "  I  have 
found  a  most  perfect  man,  who  desires  to  live  according 
to  the  holy  gospel,  and  in  all  things  to  observe  evan- 
gelical perfection;  by  whom,  I  believe,  the  Lord  pur- 
poses to  reform  the  faith  of  the  Holy  Church  throughout 
all  the  world."  Whatever  the  details  of  the  Rule  were, 
as  presented  to  Innocent,  they  were  in  substance  the 
precepts  of  Christ,  adopted  in  Portiuncula  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Brotherhood.  The  pope,  however,  was 
too  grave  in  experience  to  be  captured  by  mere  en- 
thusiasm, and  while  probably  satisfied  with  the  sincerity 
of  the  Penitents  of  Assisi,  he  neither  condemned  nor 
accepted  the  Rule.  No  new  Order  was  created,  but  the 
pope,  leaving  the  mission  of  the  Brothers  to  justify 
itself,  required  them  to  choose  a  superior.  One  man, 
and  one  only,  could  guide  the  Penitents,  and  Francis 
became  the  first  superior,  though,  according  to  another 
story,  they  had,  before  reaching  Rome,  elevated  Brother 
Bernard  to  be  to  them  as  a  vicar  of  Christ's.  The 
interview  with  Innocent  was  over,  and  ere  they  de- 
parted for  Umbria  they  received  the  tonsure,  which 
transformed  them  into  clerics.  The  Waldenses  had 
refused  the  tonsure,  and  so  were  rejected  as  heretics. 
The  Penitents  of  Assisi  did  not  commit  the  blunder  of 
separating  from  the  Churcli. 


ST.  FRANCIS 


29 


Innocent  ill.  hesitated  to  sanction  the  organisation 
which  Francis  had  intentionally  or  unintentionally 
formed.  In  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215  it  was 
determined,  since  there  was  danger  to  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  that  no  new  Orders  should  be  instituted; 
and  probably  this  policy  was  finding  favour  even  as 
early  as  the  year  1210,  as  Wadding  has  it,  when 
Francis  presented  himself  at  Rome. 

Coelestine  ill.  in  1196  sanctioned  the  foundation  of 
an  Order  by  Joachim  of  Flora,  the  mystic  whose 
writings  were  to  influence  the  history  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans. Joachim,  a  son  of  noble  parents,  left  his  home 
in  order  to  visit  the  holy  places  of  the  East.  In  Con- 
stantinople he  was  touched  by  the  spectacle  of  the 
horrors  of  a  plague,  and,  having  dismissed  his  servants, 
■  proceeded  on  his  way  as  a  pilgrim.  Visions  revealed 
to  him  mysteries  of  religion.  When  he  returned 
to  the  West  he  became  a  Cistercian,  but  not  satisfied 
with  the  severities  of  his  monkish  life,  he  founded  a 
new  Order,  in  which  extreme  poverty  was  to  be 
practised. 

Innocent  himself  welcomed  back  to  the  fold  of  the 
Church  Durand  of  Huesca,  who  separated  from  the  Wal- 
denses  that  he  might  found  an  Order  of  mendicants 
within  the  Church.  That  Order,  the  Poor  Catholics 
they  were  styled,  included  priests  who  desired  by 
preaching  to  convert  heretics,  and  laymen  who  through 
poverty  sought  to  restore  apostolic  simplicity.  Having 
approved  the  action  of  the  Poor  Catholics,  Innocent, 
none  the  less,  kept  back  his  sanction  from  the  Penitents 
of  Assisi.  It  is  not  probable  that  he  hesitated  to  recog- 
nise the  preaching  of  laymen,  which  could  have  been 
controlled  :  it  is  more  likely  that  he  doubted  the  value 


30 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  aggressive  poverty,  while  understanding  the  worth 
of  fanaticism.  He  might  well  judge  the  profession  of 
absolute  poverty  too  extreme  for  the  individual  and  for 
the  Order,  and  too  extravagant  to  attract,  even  though 
he  himself  had  written  the  "  Contempt  of  the  World 
and  the  Misery  of  Human  Life."  Innocent  was  not 
guilty  of  avarice,  was  not  a  worldling  destitute  of 
spiritual  interests,  who  had  intrigued  to  become  pope 
or  had  been  chosen  by  admirers  of  craft  and  cunning. 
His  letters  show  him  to  have  been  aware  of  the 
degradation  of  the  Church  through  simony,  and  to 
have  been  a  friend  of  the  poor,  eager  that  they  should 
get  justice.  With  all  this  he  may  have  hesitated  to 
sanction  an  Order  which  would  make  a  contrast  be- 
tw^een  its  members  and  the  clergy  ;  and  which,  by 
appeal  to  Scripture,  would  oppose  the  poverty  and 
lowliness  of  Christ  to  the  riches  and  pomp  of  His 
vicar. 

Innocent  was  engaged  in  the  great  ecclesiastical 
movement  inspired  by  Hildebrand,  and  in  securing  the 
supremacy  of  the  Church  had  no  leisure,  it  must  be 
said,  to  direct  the  religious  life  of  Christendom.  Hilde- 
brand, true  to  the  reforming  spirit  of  the  age,  and  with 
a  lofty  conception  of  the  function  of  the  Church,  desired 
the  secular  clergy  to  practise  monkish  asceticism ;  but 
in  seeking  ecclesiastical  liberty  he  secularised  the 
Church,  and  the  road  to  supremacy  was  the  road  to 
degradation.  A  vicar  of  St.  Peter  without  pomp  or 
style  could  not  be  the  superior  of  an  emperor,  and  the 
striving  for  worldly  splendour  infested  the  clergy,  who, 
forgetting  asceticism,  sought  elevation  along  with  the 
supreme  pontiff.  In  the  age  of  Hildebrand  the  Patarines 
in  Italy,  themselves  practising  monkish  severities,  had 


ST.  FRANCIS 


31 


inveighed  against  the  clergy  for  worldliness,  and  had 
contrasted  them  with  their  own  preachers,  who  walked 
in  lowliness  and  poverty.  In  the  twelfth  century 
Arnold  of  Brescia  was  the  most  noted  of  those  who  set 
up  poverty  as  the  rule  for  all  Christ's  people.  His 
preaching  was  construed  as  an  unholy  attack  on  a 
divine  organisation,  and  the  ecclesiastical  revolutionist, 
obnoxious  to  Hadrian  iv.,  as  also  to  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa  for  his  republicanism,  was  done  to  death,  the 
victim  of  a  pope's  tyranny  and  an  emperor's  petty 
wrath.  His  keenest  opponent  was  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux,  who  was  a  monk  for  his  own  salvation,  and 
the  upholder  of  the  Church  for  the  w^elfare  of  the 
people.  Yet  Bernard,  too  religious  not  to  be  vexed  by 
worldliness,  exclaimed:  Do  not  the  "ambitiosi,  avari, 
simonaici,  sacrilegi,  concubinarii,  incestuari,"  flock  from 
all  the  earth  to  Rome  that  they  may  obtain  or  retain 
ecclesiastical  honours  ?  Again  he  cried  :  "  Who  w^ill 
give  me  before  I  die  to  see  the  Church  as  it  was  in  the 
ancient  days,  when  the  apostles  cast  their  nets  to  catch 
souls,  not  silver  and  gold  ? "  Still  stronger  were  his 
words :  It  is  no  longer  true  that  the  priests  are  as 
bad  as  the  people  ;  for  the  priests  are  w^orse  than  the 
people."  One  and  all,  the  pious  condemned  the  wealth 
of  Rome  and  the  sordid  greed  of  the  bishops  and 
clergy ;  and  certainly  the  progress  of  the  heretics  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  was  helped  by  their 
attacks  on  clerical  pride  and  avarice.  Sectarians,  like 
the  Apostolici,  by  contrast  of  their  own  practices,  held 
up  to  scorn  the  priest  who,  ministering  at  the  altar  of 
Christ,  did  no  other  duty  in  His  service.  Waldo  sold 
his  goods  that  he  might  give  to  the  needy,  and  the  first 
Waldenses  were  styled  the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons.  The 


32  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


pious  within  and  the  heretics  outside  the  Church  con- 
demned that  worldliness  which  was  destroying  its 
power,  and  which  Innocent  could  not  remove. 

It  is  not  known  from  what  source  Francis  received 
his  impulse  to  poverty,  and  very  likely  to  no  particular 
sect  or  Order  did  he  owe  his  inspiration.    He  had  not 
lived,  however,  as  a  hermit,  and  must  have  been  aware 
of  the  various  attempts  to  bring  back  the  Church  to 
apostolic  simplicity.     There  is  the  theory  that  his 
mother  belonged  to  the  Waldenses,  and  instructed  him 
,  in  the  principles  of  her  sect.    Whatever  the  origin  of 
j  his  inspiration,  Francis  put  himself  in  emphatic  con- 
;  trast  with  the  ordinary  priest ;  and  in  this  poverty 
[adopted  for  Christ's  sake,  and  honourably  practised, 
[there  is  one  important  factor  of  the  success  which 
crowned  Franciscanism  at  its  beginning. 

After  the  interview  with  Innocent,  Francis  and  the 
Brothers  turned  once  more  to  Assisi,  near  which,  at 
Rivo  Torto,  they  proceeded  to  occupy  a  ruined  cottage. 
In  the  caves  and  grottos  of  the  district  they  would 
spend  hours  and  even  days  of  contemplation.   They  may 
have  been  tempted  to  that  life  of  contemplation  which 
fascinated  seekers  for  God ;  but  they  resisted  the  charm, 
that  they  might  preach  to  sinners  and  carry  glad  tidings 
to  the  poor.   In  one  of  the  Little  Flowers  it  is  related 
that  Brother  Masseo  was  sent  to  Sister  Clare  and  Brother 
Silvester  to  pray  to  God  to  show  whether  Francis 
should  give  himself  to  preaching  or  wholly  unto  prayer; 
\  and  the  divine  answer  was,  that  he  should  go  through- 
\  out  the  world  preaching,  since  he  had  been  chosen  not 
!  for  himself  alone,  but  also  for  the  salvation  .of  others, 
i    Rome  had  not  rejected  the  Penitents,  and  now  the 
churches  were  oflfered  for  their  preaching.   Francis  did 


ST.  FRANCIS 


33 


not  despise  the  courtesy  of  tlie  clergy,  but  as  a  child  of 
nature  he  loved  the  open  air,  and  crowds  gathered  to 
him  in  places  where  there  was  no  shelter  of  consecrated 
roof.  And  his  style  of  teaching,  in  its  freedom  from 
conventionality,  suited  the  open,  since  from  first  to  last 
his  sermons  had  nothing  of  the  dialectic  of  the  schools, 
and  nothing  of  the  hard  dogma  of  the  Church.  They 
were  the  appeals,  touched  no  doubt  by  the  supersti- 
tions of  the  age,  of  a  pious,  earnest,  loving  soul  to  men 
to  follow  the  Christ,  to  live  through  righteousness  to 
the  service  of  God. 

In  Assisi,  Francis  became  the  helper  of  the  oppressed, 
demanding  certain  privileges  from  the  Majores  for  the 
Minores,  and  reconciling  for  a  time  the  rich  and  poor. 
To  emphasise  the  humility  of  the  Brothers,  and  to 
bring  them  nearer  to  the  Minores,  as  they  were  styled, 
he  ordained  that  they  should  be  known  as  Brothers 
Minor.  In  the  Rule,  "according  to  Thomas  of  Celano, 
was  the  phrase  "  Et  sunt  Minores."  Francis  found  a 
name  in  Minores,  and  an  ideal  in  the  name. 

The  cottage  at  Rivo  Torto,  which  had  once  been 
occupied  by  lepers,  was  not  the  property  of  the 
Minorites,  and  others  were  free  to  use  it.  One  day 
a  rude  peasant  took  up  his  abode,  and  the  Penitents 
moved  out,  exercising,  as  they  hoped,  humility  and 
love.  A  chapel  was  now  needed  for  their  worship, 
and  they  obtained  the  Benedictine  Chapel  of  Santa 
Maria  degli  Angeli,  around  which  they  built  huts, 
forming  what  may  be  called  the  first  Franciscan  con- 
vent. That  convent,  even  in  its  simplicity,  was  not  to 
be  a  possession,  not  to  be  a  permanent  abode :  it  was 
to  be  but  a  centre  from  which  to  go  out  on  missions,  i 
and  to  which  to  return.  It  was  probably  in  imitation  * 
3 


34  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  Christ  and  His  disciples  that  the  Brothers,  as  is 
recorded,  asked  of  Francis  a  form  of  prayer.  In 
addition  to  the  Lord's  prayer  he  gave  them  this :  "  We 
adore  Thee,  0  Christ,  in  all  Thy  churches  which  are  in 
all  the  world,  and  we  bless  Thee  because  Thou  hast  by 
Thy  holy  cross  redeemed  the  world."  The  ritual  of 
the  Brothers  was  to  be  simple.  The  missions  con- 
\  tinned ;  evangelisation  was  to  be  the  chief  labour  of 
i  the  Minorites.  From  place  to  place  they  moved  in 
Umbria,  singing  in  joy  as  they  went.  By  Francis' 
express  command,  and  after  his  own  example,  they 
were  to  be  poor,  possessing  no  property  and  accepting 
no  money  either  for  service  or  charity ;  and  they  were 
to  beg  when  they  could  not  earn  their  bread.  Work 
they  must,  though  not  in  fixed  employment.  "  I  desire 
that  all  my  brethren  should  labour,"  Francis  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  "at  useful  occupations,  that  we 
may  be  less  of  a  burden  to  the  people,  and  also  that 
we  may  be  less  subject  to  maladies  of  the  heart  and 
tongue,  and  may  not  be  tempted  to  evil  thoughts  or 
evil  speaking."  When  work  failed,  the  Brothers  were 
not  to  be  ashamed  to  beg.  Christ  Himself  had  said 
that  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  Brother 
Egidius,  one  of  the  paladins  of  his  round  table, 
Francis  called  him,  carried  water  in  Brindisi,  made 
baskets  at  Ancona,  sold  wood  in  Rome.  The  first 
Minorites  were  not  idlers,  causing  offence  in  the  name 
of  religion.  They  laboured,  when  they  could,  for  bread, 
and  were  not  ashamed,  when  hungry,  to  beg  for  it  as 
the  wages  of  spiritual  service.  But  they  were  not  to 
accept  money,  to  touch  that  which  had  destroyed  the 
uses  of  the  Church.  They  were  to  be  poor  that  they 
might  follow  Christ,  that  they  might  be  cut  off  from 


ST.  FRANCIS 


35 


the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  that  they  mii^ht  be 
one  with  the  humblest  on  earth.  If  they  had  any- 
thing, they  were  to  bestow  it  willingly  on  the  needy. 
Francis  himself  once  gave  a  beggar  the  mantle  worn 
above  his  gown.  He  himself  had  but  the  loan  of  it, 
he  declared.  "  Your  life,"  said  the  Bishop  of  Assisi  to 
Francis,  "  without  any  goods  in  the  world  seems  to  me 
most  hard  and  terrible."  "  My  lord,"  answered  Francis, 
"  if  we  had  possessions  we  should  need  arms  to  protect 
them."  Bonaventura,  describing  his  predecessors  in 
the  Order,  wrote :  "  Because  they  possessed  nothing 
earthly,  loved  nothing  earthly,  and  feared  to  lose 
nothing  earthly,  they  were  secure  in  all  places ; 
troubled  by  no  fears,  distracted  by  no  cares,  they 
lived  without  trouble  of  mind,  waiting  without 
solicitude  for  the  coming  day  or  the  night's  lodg- 
ing." 

Bonaventura  himself,  in  1273,  after  he  had  been  for 
seventeen  years  the  head  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  was 
elected  a  cardinal.  When  the  messengers  arrived  to 
tell  him  of  the  election,  they  found  him  washing  the 
dishes  just  used  at  one  of  the  convent  meals.  He 
would  not  see  them  till  his  task  was  finished ;  and 
till  he  was  ready  to  receive  it,  so  runs  the  story, 
the  cardinal's  hat  was  hung  on  the  brancli  of  a 
tree. 

Into  his  love  of  poverty  Francis  wove  the  grace  of 
charity.  The  Brothers,  though  they  were  to  be  unlike 
the  secular  clergy,  were  to  be  courteous,  saluting  them 
by  kissing  their  hands.  Nor  were  the  rich  to  be 
despised.  "There  are  men,"  he  said,  "who  to-day 
appear  to  us  to  be  members  of  the  devil,  who  one  day 
shall  be  members  of  Christ."    The  same  courtesy  is 


36  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


enjoined  in  the  Rule,  where  it  prescribes  the  ways  of 
poverty :  "  And  all  the  Brothers  are  to  be  clad  in  mean 
habits,  and  may  blessedly  mend  them  with  sacks  and 
other  pieces ;  whom  I  admonish  and  exhort,  that  they 
do  not  despise  or  censure  such  men  as  they  see  clad  in 
curious  and  gay  garments,  and  using  delicate  meats 
and  drinks,  but  rather  let  every  one  judge  and  despise 
himself." 

At  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215,  when  Innocent  sat 
on  the  papal  throne  as  on  the  seat  of  the  empire  of 
the  world,  the  case  of  the  Minorites  was  considered. 
The  pope,  desiring  them  to  join  themselves  to  an  exist- 
ing Order,  as  Dominic  and  his  companions  were  to 
associate  with  the  Augustinians,  once  more  refused  a 
formal  sanction  of  their  Rule.  The  papal  advice  did 
not,  however,  commend  itself  to  Francis,  and  remem- 
bering the  corruption  of  the  Monastic  Orders,  he 
would  not  agree.  Innocent  died  before  this  dispute 
was  settled,  but  the  papal  policy  was  continued  by 
the  Cardinal  Ugolini,  the  future  Gregory  ix.  The 
cardinal,  John  of  St.  Paul,  who  had  befriended  Francis 
died,  and  Ugolini  came  forward  to  offer  protection  not 
to  be  despised,  since  there  were  members  of  the  Roman 
Curia  strongly  opposed  to  the  Minorites.  Ugolini  was 
interested,  indeed,  in  the  Brothers  and  their  work,  but 
he  was  determined  they  should  not  depart  too  far  from 
the  ways  of  the  Church. 

In  the  year  1219,  some  say  1217,  the  Franciscan 
mission  was  organised  by  the  institution  of  provinces 
in  various  countries,  and  the  appointment  of  provincial 
superiors.  Jacques  de  Vitry,  in  his  journal  of  events 
of  1216,  shows  the  wide  extent  of  the  mission  in  that 
year.    "  The  men  of  this  Order,"  he  relates,  "  assemble, 


ST.  FRANCIS 


37 


not  without  great  profit,  once  every  year,  in  a  place 
prearranged,  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  and  to  eat  to- 
gether ;  then,  with  the  counsel  of  good  men,  they 
adopt  pious  resolutions,  approved  by  the  pope.  After 
that  they  disperse  for  the  remainder  of  the  year 
through  Lombardy  and  Tuscany,  and  even  to  Apulia 
and  Sicily."  The  Brotherhood  increased  by  the  in- 
coming of  all  sorts  of  men,  rich  and  poor,  scholars  and 
peasants.  Three  robbers,  who  were  murderers,  arc 
mentioned.  With  the  increase  the  area  of  the  mission 
widened,  and  men  were  sent  forth,  some  of  whom  were 
to  win  the  distinction  of  martyrdom.  Brother  Elias 
proceeded  to  Syria;  and  Francis  himself  attempted, 
though  he  failed,  to  reach  the  East,  that  he  might 
proclaim  the  gospel  to  the  followers  of  Mahomet. 
He  failed,  too,  when  his  zeal  would  have  carried 
him  to  Morocco  to  convert  the  Sultan,  and  there  is 
a  report  of  his  mission  to  Spain  to  preach  to  the 
Moors. 

The  purpose  for  which  the  mission  was  organised  is 
set  forth  in  these  words,  supposed  to  be  addressed  by 
the  saint  to  Cardinal  Ugolini :  "  Do  you  think  that 
God  raised  up  the  Brothers  for  the  sake  of  this  country 
alone  ?  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  God  has  raised  tlicm 
up  for  the  awakening  and  the  salvation  of  all  men, 
and  they  shall  win  souls  not  only  in  the  countries  of 
those  who  believe,  but  also  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
infidels." 

In  1219  Francis,  once  more  determining  to  visit  the 
infidels,  as  they  were  styled,  proceeded  to  Damietta, 
where  the  Christian  forces  were  gathering  in  one  of 
the  Crusades.  The  determination  showed  zeal  but  not 
wisdom  in  the  man  who  thought  that  the  gospel,  if 


38  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


preached  in  purity,  would  prove  acceptable  to  all 
people.  One  story  has  it  that  he  sought  in  pious 
pilgrimage  the  places  sanctified  by  the  feet  of  Christ. 
According  to  another,  after  preaching  to  the  soldiers 
in  the  Christian  army,  he  passed  to  the  Mohammedans, 
and  was  taken  to  the  presence  of  the  Sultan  Kamel. 
In  the  version  of  Jacques  de  Vitry,  who  was  with  the 
Crusaders,  the  Sultan  received  Francis  with  courtesy, 
doubtless  taking  his  enthusiasm  for  madness,  and  after 
hearing  him  on  several  occasions,  sent  him  back  to  his 
friends,  saying  at  parting :  Pray  for  me,  that  God 
may  enlighten  me,  and  enable  me  to  hold  firmly  to 
that  religion  which  is  most  pleasing  to  Him." 

Bonaventura  describes  the  visit  as  paid  to  the 
Sultan  of  Babylon,  who  asked  Francis  to  abide  with 
him  for  a  time.  Francis  agreed  to  remain,  provided 
the  king  and  the  people  embraced  Christianity;  but, 
if  this  could  not  be,  he  desired  that  he  and  some 
of  the  Mohammedan  priests  should  enter  a  fire,  in 
order  to  try  which  was  the  true  religion.  The  Sultan 
declared  that  none  of  his  priests  would  willingly 
engage  in  such  a  contest,  whereupon  Francis,  anxious 
to  secure  victory,  ofi'ered  to  enter  the  fire,  on  condition 
that  if  he  passed  through  uninjured  the  king  should 
become  a  Christian.  Francis  was  dismissed,  after  the 
Sultan  had  pressed  gifts,  which  were  refused. 

During  the  sojourn  of  Francis  in  the  East  important 
changes  were  taking  place,  beginnings  of  that  pro- 
tracted revolution  which  was  to  transform  the  Order. 
Francis  had  renounced  the  world  for  the  sake  of 
leading  the  life  in  Christ,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  at  first  he  thought  even  of  a  Brotherhood.  Men 
joined  him,  and  while  he  saw  the  need  of  organisation 


ST.  FRANCIS 


39 


he  refused  privileges  and  shunned  formalities.  He 
was  captivated  by  poverty  and  impelled  towards  it  by 
a  spirit  of  chivalry,  and,  more  seriously,  by  a  pious 
desire  to  avoid  the  avarice  debasing  the  Church.  In 
no  sense  did  he  oppose  the  Church  or  join  with  those 
who  judged  Arnold  of  Brescia  a  martyr  for  gospel 
truth.  Yet  the  purposes  and  ideals  of  the  great 
ecclesiastics  were  very  different  from  his,  and  not 
unnaturally  some  have  counted  him  the  victim  of  an 
intrigue,  when  the  Brotherhood  came  under  the 
direction  of  the  Church.  Ugolini,  it  has  been  affirmed, 
inspired  the  changes  effected  during  Francis'  stay  in 
the  East.  And  yet  the  saint  was  friendly  with 
Ugolini,  as  he  was  with  Elias,  the  Brother  credited 
with  being  the  servant  of  the  cardinal's  schemes. 

Francis  was  not  a  dreamer  to  imagine  that  a  thou- 
sand friars,  whom  perhaps  he  had  never  seen,  would 
be  controlled  by  his  example  and  filled  with  his 
enthusiasm  for  simplicity.  But  he  had  ideals,  and 
these  he  would  cherish,  opposing  all  schemes  of 
prelates  and  friars  alike  which  would  do  violence  to 
his  plans.  He  would  not  and  did  not  refuse  obedience  ; 
but,  to  his  mind,  the  best  service  to  the  Church  was  to 
follow  poverty  and  restore  simplicity.  The  Brother- 
hood grew,  and,  as  its  members  were  of  different  lands 
and  tongues,  it  required  papal  help  that  it  might  be 
preserved.  The  progress  was  greater  than  the  dream 
of  a  visionary  or  the  pride  of  an  egoist  could  have 
predicted ;  and  Francis  was  not  so  foolish  as  to  think 
that  the  glory  of  success  was  due  to  him  alone,  and 
that  he  could  altogether  save  it  from  official  control. 
During  Francis'  absence  the  opportunity  for  inter- 
ference came,   and  Ugolini,  as  protector,  introduced 


40 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


changes  to  bind  the  Order  to  the  Church.  That 
interference,  however,  might  not  then  have  taken 
place  had  not  the  rumour  circulated  that  the  saint 
was  dead.  One  of  the  most  serious  changes  was  the 
direction  of  the  Poor  Ladies  of  St.  Damian,  the  Poor 
Clares,  as  they  were  afterwards  named.  In  the  year 
1212  Francis  had  admitted  to  the  life  of  poverty  a 
young  girl  of  Assisi,  Clara,  daughter  of  the  noble 
house  of  Sciffi.  By  his  preaching  she  had  been 
brought  to  a  contempt  of  the  world :  "  he  had  poured 
into  her  ears  the  sweetness  of  Christ."  She  and 
certain  maidens  who  had  joined  her  were  ultimately 
received  into  the  Chapel  of  St.  Damian,  as  a  convent, 
where  they  were  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  the  Rule  which 
guided  the  Brothers.  As  they  could  not  preach,  and 
were  not  to  go  forth  to  beg,  they  were  to  employ 
themselves  with  work  such  as  embroidering  altar- 
cloths,  and  were  to  attend  the  sick.  The  Brothers 
were  to  help  in  their  support,  and  charity  was  to 
supply  that  which  was  lacking. 

Clara  was  born  in  1194,  and,  according  to  the 
legend,  before  her  birth  a  voice  from  heaven  said  that 
her  life  would  be  brilliant.  Her  mother  accordingly 
desired  that  the  child  should  be  called  Clara. 
Asceticism  ruled  her  as  a  girl,  and  under  her  rich 
apparel  she  wore  a  cruel  cincture.  Suitors  were  many, 
but  to  none  would  she  listen.  The  fame  of  Francis 
reached  her.  Having  heard  him  preach  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Assisi,  she  sought  converse  with  the  new  apostle. 
At  his  advice  she  fled  with  companions  from  her 
father's  house  to  Portiuncula,  to  be  followed  in  after 
days  by  other  members  of  the  family  ;  and  when  she 
had  taken  the  vow  of  poverty,  with  his  own  hands  he 


ST.  FRANCIS 


41 


cut  off  her  flowing:  hair,  consecrating:  her  as  a  nun. 
Her  first  days  of  poverty  were  spent  in  a  Benedictine 
convent,  from  which  she  removed  to  the  Church  of 
St.  Damian.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  man 
who  advised  the  flight  of  a  girl  from  her  home  had 
himself  left  all  for  Christ's  sake  ;  and  also  that  he 
who  assumed  a  bishop's  function,  consecrating  a 
nun,  himself  asked  no  priest  to  set  him  apart  for 
Christ. 

Clara  died  long  after  the  saint  had  "  fallen  asleep," 
and  in  1255,  two  years  after  her  death,  was  canonised 
by  Alexander  iv.  Throughout  the  later  years  of  his 
life  there  was  romantic  converse  between  Francis,  with 
some  of  his  friars,  and  the  ladies  of  St.  Damian. 
Slander  never  touched  that  converse,  and  his  most 
peaceful  hours  were  those  spent  in  the  garden  of  St. 
Damian,  when  Clara  ministered  to  her  friend. 

The  number  of  the  Sisters  rapidly  increased,  and  in 
a  few  years  after  Clara  entered  St  Damian  there  were 
houses  in  Italy,  France,  and  Spain.  The  Rule  by  which 
the  nuns  were  to  live  was  a  modification  of  that  made 
by  the  saint  for  the  Brothers.  Ugolini  put  in  its 
place  one  framed  by  himself ;  and,  though  the  newly 
established  houses  were  willing  to  accept  it,  Clara  was 
stubborn  in  her  determination  to  abide  by  the  statutes 
of  Francis.  In  1219  Ugolini  bestowed  on  the 
Benedictine  nuns  certain  privileges,  which  Brother 
Philip  obtained  for  the  Poor  Ladies.  The  Rule  given 
by  Ugolini  and  the  privileges  meant  conventional  for- 
mality and  a  relaxation  of  the  austerities  of  poverty ; 
and,  to  his  annoyance,  Francis  found  on  his  return 
that  Brother  Philip  had  been  trafiicking  with  Ugolini, 
and  that  his  own  plan,  to  constrain  the  nuns  by  the 


42  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


example  of  his  life  and  the  power  of  his  character, 
and  to  keep  them  true  to  poverty,  had  been  seriously 
impaired.  Among  the  Brothers  themselves  greater 
severity  of  conduct  had  been  introduced.  True  to  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  gospel,  Francis  had  allowed  the 
liberty  expressed  in  Luke  x.  8,  "And  into  whatsoever  city 
ye  enter,  and  they  receive  you,  eat  such  things  as  are 
set  before  you."  The  two  vicars,  however,  whom  he  had 
left  in  charge  made  the  rules  of  fasting  more  stringent, 
that  they  might  conform  their  customs  to  those  of  the 
established  Orders.  The  change  was  slight,  but  it  was 
a  violation  of  the  freedom  and  simplicity  which  were 
ground  principles  of  Francis'  life. 

Another  event  indicated  how  soon  his  teaching  was 
to  be  misunderstood.  One  of  the  Brothers,  John  of 
Capella,  was  endeavouring  to  gather  the  lepers  into 
an  Order,  and  a  Rule  for  their  obedience  was  submitted 
to  the  pope.  It  was  not  to  the  mind  of  Francis  that 
his  Brotherhood  should  be  travestied  by  any  Order 
with  fixed  monastic  rule,  or  that  any  of  his  friars 
should  be  enamoured  of  formalities  in  piety.  Later 
tradition  tells  that  Francis  found  that  a  house  was 
being  erected  at  Bologna  for  the  Brothers,  and  was 
already  inhabited  in  part.  He  ordered  them  to  quit 
it  at  once,  and  was  pacified  only  when  assured  that 
it  was  not  their  property. 

The  primitive  simplicity  of  the  Minorites  could  not 
be  maintained  when  the  Society  numbered  thousands, 
and  this  Francis  knew.  According  to  Bonaventura, 
five  thousand  men  attended  one  of  the  chapters  held 
before  the  Rule  was  finally  sanctioned  by  Rome. 
Francis,  forced  by  the  logic  of  events,  was  compelled 
in  1219  to  accept  papal  protection  for  the  Brothers 


ST.  FRANCIS 


43 


of  the  mission,  many  of  whom  had  reported  that  they 
were  beings  treated  as  heretics  or  revolutionists. 
Forced  to  another  step,  he  solicited  from  the  pope 
the  appointment  of  an  official  protector.  Francis 
stood  before  Innocent's  successor  with  this  request, 
in  spite  of  his  early  determination  to  seek  no 
privilege.  Cardinal  Ugolini,  because  of  his  friendship, 
was  named  protector ;  and,  armed  with  authority, 
continued  the  plan,  which  was  that  of  Innocent,  of 
bringing  the  Brotherhood  into  closer  touch  with  the 
papacy.  One  of  his  schemes  was  to  choose,  on 
occasion,  prelates  from  among  the  Minorites,  as  he 
appreciated  the  benefit  of  appointing  men  with  no 
family  interests  to  serve.  To  Ugolini's  proposal 
Francis  replied  :  "  My  friars  have  been  called  Minorcs 
in  order  that  they  may  not  presume  to  become 
Majores.  If  you  desire  that  they  may  bear  fruit  in 
the  Church,  keep  them  and  preserve  them  in  the 
place  to  which  they  were  called." 

One  of  the  first  indications  of  Ugolini's  official 
directorship  was  the  withdrawal  of  the  privileges 
solicited  by  Brother  Philip  for  the  nuns,  and  the 
refusal  to  establish  an  Order  of  lepers.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  required  that  a  definite  Rule  should  be, 
formulated  for  the  Brotherhood.  That  Rule  was 
prepared,  but  before  its  sanction  it  suffered  many 
things  at  the  hands  of  the  Roman  Curia,  and  F rancis, 
in  spite  of  lost  ideals,  but  from  loyalty  to  the 
Church,  had  to  be  content.  It  is  told  of  the  saint 
that,  in  the  midst  of  his  troubles,  he  went  out  one 
night  to  pray,  and  seemed  to  hoar  God  saying :  "  Poor 
little  man !  I  govern  the  universe ;  thinkest  thou  that 
I  cannot  overrule  the  concerns  of  thy  little  Order  ? " 


44  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


The  story  shows  the  man.  Francis'  trust  in  God  was 
sure,  and  in  himself  he  had  none.  Wounded  pride, 
scorn  of  change,  unfulfilled  ideals,  were  laid  as 
sacrifices  before  Him  who,  governing  a  world,  could 
direct  the  friars. 


CHAPTER  III 

St.  Francis — continued 

The  negotiations  between  Francis  and  Ugolini  resulted 
in  1220  in  the  publication  of  a  bull,  which  may  be 
taken  as  the  official  recognition  of  the  Brotherhood. 
It  contained  the  significant  words :  "  In  nearly  all  re- 
ligious Orders  it  has  been  wisely  ordained  that  those 
•who  present  themselves  with  the  purpose  of  observing 
the  regular  life  shall  make  trial  of  it  for  a  certain  time, 
during  which  they  shall  be  tested,  in  order  to  leave 
neither  place  nor  pretext  for  inconsiderate  steps.  For 
these  reasons  we  command  you  by  these  presents  to 
admit  no  one  to  make  profession  until  after  one  year 
of  novitiate ;  we  forbid  that  after  profession  any 
Brother  shall  leave  the  Order,  and  that  anyone  shall 
take  back  again  him  who  has  gone  out  from  it.  We 
also  forbid  that  those  wearing  your  habit  shall  cir- 
culate here  and  there  without  obedience,  lest  the  purit}^ 
of  your  poverty  be  corrupted.  If  any  friars  have  had 
this  audacity,  you  will  inflict  upon  them  ecclesiastical 
censures  until  repentance." 

Four  years  before  the  date  of  this  bull  the  Dominican 
Order  had  been  founded,  and  from  the  first  was  placed 
under  papal  direction.  Why  should  not  Francis  act  as 
a  dutiful  son,  and  be  guided  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
highest  in  the  Church  ?    The  bull  was  certainly  in- 


46 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


spired  by  the  desire  to  conform  the  Franciscans  to  the 
fashion  of  existing  Orders.  A  chapter  was  held  at 
which  the  papal  communication  was  read,  and  the 
details  of  the  new  Rule  were  discussed.  The  incident 
of  chief  importance,  however,  was  the  retiral  of  Francis 
from  the  leadership,  or  rather  his  refusal  to  become  the 
head  of  the  newly  recognised  Order.  Pietro  di  Catana, 
a  doctor  of  laws  and  a  man  of  noble  birth,  was  chosen 
minister-general,  but  he  lived  little  more  than  a  year 
to  bear  the  burden  of  office.  He  had  been  a  canon  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Assisi,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  join 
the  Minorites.  Francis  chose  him  as  his  companion  in 
the  East,  and  knowing  and  loving  him  as  he  did,  it 
may  be  taken  that  he  nominated  him  as  minister- 
general.  He  himself  had  not  withdrawn  from  office, 
annoyed  by  the  papal  policy.  He  retired  from  leader- 
ship, being  unfitted  for  a  place  which  required 
organising  and  directing  activities  rather  than  piety 
and  emotion. 

Pietro  di  Catana  died  in  1221,  and  was  buried  in 
Portiuncula,  into  which,  according  to  Thomas  of  Celano, 
no  layman  was  allowed  to  enter.  After  the  burial 
multitudes  flocked  to  the  church,  on  account  of  the 
miracles  which  were  wrought ;  and  Francis,  disturbed 
by  their  tumult,  went  to  the  tomb  and  said  :  "  Brother 
Peter,  in  life  you  were  always  obedient  to  me;  as, 
through  your  miracles,  we  are  pestered  by  laymen, 
you  must  obey  me  in  death.  I  therefore  order  you 
on  your  obedience  to  cease  from  the  miracles  through 
which  we  are  troubled  by  laymen."  The  saint  hated 
clamour  and  noise,  and  was  not  of  those  who  rushed 
after  sifjns  and  wonders.  The  next  to  become  minister- 
general  was  Elias  of  Cortona,  who  continued  in  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


47 


leadership  till  he  had  made  the  Order  the  mere  tool 
or  agent  of  the  papacy. 

In  1221,  some  writers  tell  us,  the  Tertiaries,  or  Third 
Order,  were  founded.  These  Tertiaries  were  not  monks 
or  friars  in  any  sense,  but  were  men  and  women  moved 
to  bring  the  fundamental  teaching  of  the  gospel  into 
the  conduct  of  daily  life.  From  the  first  appearance 
of  Francis  as  an  evangelist  of  poverty  and  love,  and 
not  from  the  exact  date  1221,  there  were  men  and 
women  who  could  not  join  the  Brotherhood  or  Sister- 
hood, and  yet  desired  to  obey  the  informal  Rule  which 
he  had  framed.  Certain  duties,  we  are  told,  were  pre- 
scribed for  them.  They  were  to  keep  God's  command- 
ments, to  avoid  oaths  and  lawsuits,  to  carry  no  arms 
except  for  defence  of  the  Church,  to  live  in  the 
simplicity  of  few  material  wants,  and  to  give  liberally 
to  the  poor.  Above  all,  the  love  of  Christ  was  to  enter 
their  hearts,  and  His  example  to  shape  their  conduct. 
These  Tertiaries,  who  were  to  have  a  long  and  varied 
history,  were  proofs  of  the  spiritual  excellence  of  the 
Franciscan  movement,  which  affected  men  and  women 
not  in  convents  or  associations  separated  from  the 
world,  but  in  the  family  and  amidst  ordinary  business. 

A  Rule  for  the  Tertiaries,  we  are  told,  was  approved  by 
the  pope,  and  the  name,  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Peni- 
tence, obtained  official  recognition.  Assertions  of  this 
kind,  however,  are  doubtful,  as  Francis  ever  feared  that 
the  letter  might  kill  the  spirit.  It  is  more  likely  that 
the  Rule  belonged  to  a  later  year.  The  form  of  the  vow 
which  candidates  for  admission  were  required  to  take 
speaks  of  a  time  subsequent  to  the  death  of  the  saint. 
These  candidates,  after  an  examination  refrardinc:  con- 
duct,  manners,  and  association  with  neighbours,  had  to 


48  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


repeat  these  words  :  "  I  promise  and  vow  to  God,  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  our  father  St.  Francis,  and  all  the  saints 
of  paradise,  to  keep  all  the  Commandments  of  God 
during  the  entire  course  of  my  life,  and  to  make  satis- 
faction for  the  transgressions  which  I  may  have  com- 
mitted against  the  Rule  and  manner  of  life  of  the  Order 
of  Penitents,  instituted  by  Francis,  according  to  the 
will  of  the  visitor  of  that  Order,  when  I  am  admitted 
into  it." 

The  story  of  the  foundation  of  the  Third  Order  is  not 
simple.  It  is  unlikely  that  Francis  dictated  a  Rule ; 
and  certainly  the  only  one  of  which  we  have  definite 
information  is  that  issued  by  Nicolas  iv.,  which  was 
intended  for  all  the  existing  religious  societies  of  lay- 
men. The  Tertiaries,  however,  were  mentioned  in  a 
bull  of  1221,  the  alleged  year  of  their  foundation  ;  while 
in  1230  Gregory  ix.  styled  them  fratres  tertii  ordinis, 
and  in  1247  Innocent  iv.  placed  them  under  the 
directorship  of  the  minister-general.  Of  some  interest 
is  the  fact  that  in  1882,  the  "ZOOth  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  the  saint.  Pope  Leo  xiii.  in  an  encyclical 
declared  that  the  institution  of  Franciscan  Tertiaries 
was  alone  fitted  to  save  humanity  from  the  social  and 
political  dangers  which  threatened  it. 

It  was  the  glory  of  Francis  to  spread  religion  beyond 
the  cloister,  and  carry  it  into  family  life.  He  would 
have  men  brought  to  repentance,  and  filled  with  a  love 
to  Christ  which  would  constrain  them  to  poverty  and 
goodness.  These  Franciscan  Tertiaries,  like  the  associ- 
ates of  other  Orders,  were  helpful  in  removing  the 
barrier  between  laymen  and  clerics,  with  the  result 
that  religion  was  no  longer  the  possession  in  a  special 
way  of  the  priest,  the  monk,  and  the  nun. 


ST.  FRANCIS 


49 


Poverty  for  Francis,  as  for  Dominic,  was  not  simply 
a  question  of  property  or  money  :  it  meant  for  them 
the  sum  of  the  virtues  or  graces  in  the  character  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  mendicants,  when  they  taught  this 
doctrine  in  its  purity,  in  the  years  of  their  enthusiasm 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  brought  the  lesson  home 
to  individuals  that  salvation  was  to  be  found  not 
through  adherence  to  rites  and  ceremonies,  through 
devotion  to  the  Church,  or  through  attention  to  the 
sacraments,  but  through  imitation  in  spirit  and  in 
truth  of  the  virtues  of  Jesus.  Men  came  to  know  i 
their  responsibilities  as  individuals  and  their  duties  \ 
in  society ;  learned  that  the  humanity  of  Christ  was 
their  ideal,  and  that  to  attain  to  His  perfection  was 
to  attain  to  fellowship  with  Him  as  God.  It  was  to 
the  lasting  honour  of  the  friars  that,  in  an  age  when 
piety  was  feeble  and  worship  was  formal,  they 
quickened  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church,  rousing 
and  freeing  men  from  sloth  and  slavery  in  religion, 
making  them  conscious  of  the  infinite  importance 
of  the  issues  of  the  soul.  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary 
and  St.  Louis  of  France,  with  their  severe  uses  of 
piety,  are  numbered  among  the  Tertiaries ;  and,  in  . 
spite  of  these  uses,  they  show  how  religion  had  passed 
from  mere  ritual  to  the  conduct  of  life. 

It  is  a  constant  tradition  that,  during  part  of  his 
life,  Dante  was  a  Tertiary ;  and  the  assertion  is  also 
made,  not  without  plausibility,  that  after  his  death 
he  was  clothed,  according  to  a  wish  he  had  expressed, 
in  the  Franciscan  dress.  Beyond  doubt,  however, 
is  the  fact  that  he  was  buried  in  a  chapel  of  the 
Franciscan  Church  of  Ravenna. 

According  to  some  interpreters,  there  is  a  direct 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


allusion  to  the  Franciscan  cord  in  the  mention  of 
that  one  with  which  the  poet  girds  himself  for  the 
contest  with  the  panther,  the  symbol  of  lust  and 
pride — 

"  I  had  a  cord  wMch  round  my  waist  I  wore, 

And  with  it  once  of  old  I  thought  to  take 
The  panther  with  its  skin  all  dappled  o'er." 

The  cord  was  useless,  and  in  this  fact  a  reference 
has  been  traced  to  Dante's  dissatisfaction  with  the 
Tertiaries,  among  whom  he  found  no  help  to  salva- 
tion. It  is  significant  that,  in  the  second  part  of  his 
great  poem,  he  represents  himself  as  girt  not  with 
a  cord,  but  with  the  rush,  an  emblem  of  humility — 

"Go  then,  and  gird  thou  this  man,  as  I  teach, 
AVith  a  smooth  rush." 

Apart  from  purely  religious  effects,  the  association  of 
the  Tertiaries  had  important  results.  The  prohibition 
of  arms,  save  for  the  defence  of  the  Church,  helped 
to  destroy  the  medieval  idea  of  virtue.  War  was  no 
lonofer  to  be  the  first  concern  of  a  free  man.  This 
change  in  the  moral  ideal  advanced  the  growth  of 
the  middle  classes,  turning  men's  attention  to  trade 
and  commerce,  and  served  also  the  cause  of  peace. 
The  restriction,  too,  of  the  use  of  arms  to  the  pro- 
tection of  religion  was  soon  to  tell  in  favour  of  the 
Church  in  the  great  struggle  between  the  papal  and 
imperial  powers,  when  the  Franciscan  Tertiaries  aided 
the  friars  in  destroying  the  authority  of  Frederick  ii. 

The  rise  of  the  middle  classes  helped  to  remove  the 
gulf  between  the  rich  and  the  poor ;  but  to  the  Fran- 
ciscan movement,  and,  as  part  of  it,  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Tertiaries,  is  to  be  attributed  the  more  humane 


ST.  FRANCIS 


51 


feeling  which  existed  between  all  ranks  of  society. 
The  poor  felt  that  they  were  not  outcasts  from 
humanity,  when  there  were  men  to  heed  them,  aiding: 
and  pitying  them ;  the  rich  felt  that  they  were 
brothers  to  the  poor,  when  they  recognised  a  duty 
to  them,  and  did  it.  The  plebeian  crowd  of  the 
city,  spurned  by  the  nobles,  despised  by  the  artizans, 
poorer  and  meaner  than  the  feudal  serfs,  learned 
through  Francis  that  Christianity  could  bring  the 
fortunate  to  the  unfortunate,  could  consecrate  the 
strong  to  the  service  of  the  weak.  Francis  especially, 
but  Dominic  too,  was  a  saviour  of  society  in  bringing 
the  classes  together  through  sympathy  and  uniting 
them  through  duty.  Civilisation  progressed  as  men 
ceased  to  strive  for  domination  one  over  another,  and 
learned  that  the  one  blood  of  which  God  had  made 
them  was  the  symbol  of  their  unity. 

The  Rule,  for  the  preparation  of  which  Francis  had 
received  a  papal  instruction,  was  finished  in  1221 
and  presented  to  the  pope.  It  was  important  in  this 
respect,  that  the  Brotherhood  officially  determined 
that  there  should  be  no  longer  the  rule  of  one  man 
acting  with  the  authority  of  his  own  personality  and 
genius.  A  minister-general  was  to  govern,  having 
under  him  ministers  to  direct  the  mission  and  to 
examine  candidates  for  entrance.  Francis  desired, 
however,  that  these  men  should  be  servants  and  not 
masters.  The  peculiar  ethic  of  the  Order  was  set 
forth.  The  simplicity  of  the  prescribed  ritual,  with 
the  attention  to  be  paid  to  poverty  and  work,  and 
especially  to  the  renunciation  of  money,  showed  that 
the  saint  desired  the  friars  to  continue  in  the  poverty, 
piety,  and  humility  which  had  guided  his  own  con- 


5  2  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


duct.  As  the  Rule  was  not  framed  in  conventional 
mode,  and  contained  dissertations  on  religion  and  morals, 
it  was  not  likely  to  be  sanctioned  without  suffering 
serious  changes. 

On  the  29th  of  November  1223  the  Rule  was  at 
last  published  under  the  authority  of  Honorius  ill., 
and  was  little  more  than  a  collection  of  statutes, 
showing  almost  nothing  of  the  handwork  of  Francis. 
The  ethical  or  spiritual  exhortations  were  omitted, 
as  were  also,  for  the  most  part,  the  passages  from  the 
Bible  which  had  been  so  important  at  the  foundation 
of  the  Brotherhood.  The  value  of  life  in  harmony 
with  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  the  beauty  of  poverty, 
and  the  use  of  preaching  were  set  forth,  but  there  was 
no  emphasis  on  the  imitation  of  Christ.  Francis  had 
ordained  that  the  Brothers  should  labour  for  daily 
bread,  and  had  declared  that  begging  was  legitimate, 
when  there  was  no  other  resource;  now,  labour  was 
to  be  a  means  of  avoiding  idleness,  while  begging  was 
to  be  a  privilege  and  mark  of  the  Order.  Another 
feature  was  notable.  The  pope  was  to  name  from 
time  to  time  some  cardinal  as  governor  or  protector, 
and  a  general-minister  and  provincial-ministers  were 
to  be  appointed.  The  general-minister,  to  whom  the 
Brothers  were  to  give  obedience,  was  to  be  the  servant 
of  the  pope,  so  that  they  might  be  kept  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Church.  How  far  Francis  agreed 
to  these  changes  is  not  to  be  determined.  Probably 
they  were  made  at  the  instigation  of  Cardinal  Ugolini 
representing  the  Church,  and  Elias  of  Cortona  within 
the  Order,  as  events  were  to  indicate.  Francis  agreed 
to  them,  but  with  what  grace  ?  He  was  convinced, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  a  new  Rule  was 


ST.  FRANCIS 


53 


needed,  since  the  Brotherhood  had  made  rapid  increase. 
It  could  hardly  have  been  with  satisfaction,  however, 
that  he  saw  poverty,  the  imitation  of  the  life  of  Christ, 
pass  into  mendicancy,  and  the  freedom  of  individual 
piety  sink  into  obedience  to  the  Church.  The  Order 
had  changed,  but  he  himself  was  still  faithful  to  the 
Lady  Poverty,  still  true  to  the  simplicity  which  secured 
freedom  from  worldly  concerns. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  mendicancy  became  the  privi- 
ledge  of  the  pious  under  sanction  of  the  official  Rule, 
while  Francis  himself  cherished  the  idea  of  the  dignity 
of  labour ;  and  his  example  was  not  lost  on  the  work- 
ing classes  of  the  towns.  He  had  no  wish  that  he  and 
his  Brothers  should  beg,  unless  when  work  failed ;  and 
work  was  pursued  not  as  a  means  to  wealth,  but  to 
daily  bread.  Freely  he  would  give,  and  freely,  too, 
would  accept  anything  bestowed  in  love ;  and  just  as 
readily  would  he  work  for  the  bread  for  which  he 
praj^ed.  Poverty,  not  mendicancy,  was  his  ideal. 
Francis  became  the  popular  medieval  saint,  and  while 
his  poverty  was  a  rebuke  to  worldliness,  his  judgment 
of  labour  as  the  honourable  means  to  daily  bread 
fostered  self-respect  in  the  artizaus,  who  were  rapidly 
increasing  in  the  towns. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  or  characteristics  of  Francis 
was  his  attitude  to  learning,  which,  however,  is 
intelligible.  Legend  has  declared  that  he  prophesied 
the  ruin  of  his  Order  through  zeal  for  study ;  but  it 
was  certainly  not  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  by  which 
it  suti'ered  degradation.  Strange  stories  are  recorded, 
j  in  one  of  vrliich  he  speaks  thus  to  a  novice  desiring 
to  possess  a  psalter: 

"  The  Emperor  Charles,  Roland  and  Oliver,  and  all 


54  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  paladins  and  all  strong  men,  have  pursued  the 
infidel  in  battle  till  death,  and  with  great  trouble  and 
labour  have  won  their  memorable  victories.  The  holy 
martj^rs  died  struggling  for  the  faith  of  Christ.  But 
in  our  days  there  are  persons  who  seek  glory  and 
honour  among  men  by  the  narration  simply  of  the 
exploits  of  heroes.  In  like  manner  there  are  some 
among  you  who  take  more  pleasure  in  writing  and 
preaching  on  the  merits  of  the  saints  than  in  imitating 
their  works."  And  he  afterwards  said  to  the  youth : 
"  When  you  have  a  psalter  you  will  wish  to  have  a 
breviary,  and  when  you  have  a  breviary  you  will  sit  in 
a  chair  like  a  great  prelate,  and  will  say  to  your  brother, 
'  Brother,  fetch  me  my  breviary.' "  When,  again,  he 
heard  that  a  famous  doctor  of  Paris,  perhaps  Alexander 
Hales,  had  been  received  into  the  Order,  he  said :  "  I 
am  afraid  that  such  doctors  will  be  the  destruction  of 
my  vineyard.  They  are  the  true  doctors  who,  with 
the  meekness  of  wisdom,  exhibit  good  works  for  the 
improvement  and  edification  of  their  neighbours." 

In  1222  he  wrote  to  his  friends  in  Bologna,  where  the 
Dominicans  had  also  settled,  a  letter  displaying  intense 
feeling,  and  dictated  probably  as  a  warning  against 
the  neglect  of  piety  for  the  sake  of  learning.  "  Lord 
Jesus,"  thus  he  spoke,  "  Thou  didst  choose  Thine  apostles 
to  the  number  of  twelve,  and  if  one  of  them  did 
betray  Thee,  the  others,  remaining  united  to  Thee, 
preached  the  holy  gospel,  filled  with  one  and  the  same 
inspiration ;  and  behold  now,  remembering  the  former 
days.  Thou  hast  raised  up  the  religion  of  the  Brothers 
in  order  to  uphold  the  faith,  and  that  by  them  the 
mystery  of  Thy  gospel  may  be  accomplished.  Who 
will  take  their  place  if,  instead  of   fulfilling  their 


ST.  FRANCIS 


55 


mission  and  being  shining  examples  for  all,  they  are 
seen  to  give  themselves  up  to  works  of  darkness  ?  Oh  ! 
may  they  be  accursed  by  Thee,  Lord,  and  by  all  the 
court  of  heaven,  and  by  me,  Thine  unwortliy  servant, 
they  who  by  their  bad  example  overturn  and  destroy 
all  that  Thou  didst  do  in  the  beginning,  and  ceasest  not 
to  do  by  the  holy  Brothers  of  this  Order." 

The  letter,  which  may  have  been  simply  a  warning 
against  idleness  or  worldliness,  shows  that  the  fire  of 
youth  had  not  died  out,  and  that  the  passion  for  the 
life  in  Christ  still  burned.  It  may  be,  however,  that 
he  wrote  to  the  Brothers  of  Bologna  to  guard  them 
against  what  he  deemed  was  their  strongest  temptation, 
the  forsaking  of  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  for  the 
learning  of  the  schools,  after  which  the  Dominicans 
sought.  Dominic  had  been  trained  in  theology,  and 
the  members  of  his  Order  equipped  themselves  with 
science  to  overcome  heresy.  Francis,  the  son  of  a 
trader,  had  no  culture  beyond  the  refinement  of  a 
lyric  taste,  and  to  him  scholastic  study  was  nothing. 
He  had  the  passionate  desire  that  he  and  his  friends 
should  commend  religion  by  imitation  of  Christ,  and 
learning  therefore  had  no  place  in  his  schemes.  Piety 
and  not  science  was  the  one  thing  needful  in  preaching 
to  the  poor,  to  the  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of 
humanity,  among  whom  the  Minorites  laboured. 

At  the  same  time,  the  opposition  of  Francis  to 
learning  was  not  fanatical.  Opposition  it  hardly  was. 
He  was  afraid  that  learning  might  draw  the  friars 
away  from  Christ.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  Antony 
of  Padua  his  position  may  be  seen.  That  letter, 
pronounced  by  some  to  be  a  forgery,  is  certainly  in 
harmony  with  his  own  words  in  his  Testament.    "  It 


56  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


pleases  me,"  thus  it  is  written,  "  that  you  interpret  to 
the  Brothers  the  sacred  writings  and  theology,  in  such 
a  way,  however  (conformably  to  our  Rule),  that  the 
spirit  of  holy  prayer  be  not  extinguished  either  in  you 
or  in  others,  which  I  desire  earnestly."  In  the  Testa- 
ment it  is  laid  down :  "  We  ought  to  honour  and 
revere  all  the  theologians,  and  those  who  preach  the 
most  holy  word  of  God,  as  dispensing  to  us  spirit  and 
life."  Whatever  may  have  been  the  attitude  of  Francis 
to  scientific  study  and  theological  learning, — and  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  favourable, — many  of  the  Brothers 
attained  high  distinction  in  the  universities.  It  is  not 
an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  Franciscans  of  England, 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  became  the 
most  distinguished  body  of  scholars  in  Europe,  and 
their  fame,  one  tradition  says,  attracted  Dante  to  the 
university  of  Oxford. 

In  1224  the  new  Rule  was  presented  to  the  Order 
at  a  chapter, — the  last  which  Francis  was  to  attend. 
It  is  to  this  year  that  innumerable  biographers  have 
assigned  the  incident  of  the  stigmata.  Verna,  a 
mountain-peak  rising  on  the  borders  of  Tuscany,  was 
the  scene  of  a  mysterious  vision,  of  a  seraph  with  six 
wings,  which  appeared  to  Francis,  and  which  bore  the 
image  of  a  man  crucified.  He  had  prayed :  "  O  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  beseech  Thee  grant  me  two  graces 
before  I  die :  the  first,  that  in  my  lifetime  I  may  feel 
in  my  soul  and  in  my  body,  so  far  as  may  be,  the  pain 
that  Thou,  sweet  Lord,  didst  bear  in  the  hours  of  Thy 
most  bitter  passion ;  the  second  is,  that  I  may  feel  in 
my  heart,  as  far  as  may  be,  that  exceeding  love  where- 
with Thou,  O  Son  of  God,  wast  kindled  to  willingly 
endure  such  agony  for  us  sinners."    The  seraph  was 


ST.  FRANCIS 


57 


the  Christ,  and  Francis  felt  tlie  joy  of  His  presence  and 
His  love,  and,  at  the  same  time,  sorrow  for  the  pain  of 
the  Crucified  One.  Then  it  was  revealed  to  him  that 
he  sliould  understand  that  "  not  by  the  m;irtyrdom  of 
the  body,  but  by  the  enkindlino-  of  his  mind,  must  he 
needs  be  wholly  transformed  into  the  express  image  of 
Christ  crucified."  And  yet,  when  the  vision  had  passed, 
there  was  in  the  flesh  of  Francis  a  copy  of  the  wounds 
of  Christ.  "  His  hands  and  his  feet  appeared  pierced 
throuo^h  the  midst  with  nails,  the  heads  of  the  nails 
being  seen  in  the  inside  of  the  hands  and  upper  part  of 
the  feet,  and  the  points  on  the  reverse  side.  The  heads 
of  the  nails  in  the  hands  and  feet  were  round  and 
black,  and  the  points  somewhat  long  and  bent,  as  if 
•they  had  been  turned  back.  On  the  right  side,  as  if 
it  had  been  pierced  with  a  lance,  was  the  mark  of  a 
red  wound,  from  which  the  sacred  blood  often  flowed 
and  stained  his  tunic."  In  the  Little  Floivers  we 
are  told  that  Christ  said  to  His  servant,  before  the 
stigmata  were  actually  given :  "  Knowest  thou  what  it 
is  that  I  have  done  unto  thee  ?  I  have  given  thee  the 
stigmata,  that  are  the  signs  of  my  passion,  to  the  end 
that  thou  mayest  be  my  standard-bearer.  And  even 
as  on  the  day  of  ni}^  death  I  descended  into  hell  and 
brought  out  thence  all  the  souls  that  I  found  there  by 
virtue  of  these  my  stigmata:  even  so  do  I  grant  to 
thee  that  every  year  on  the  day  of  thy  death  thou 
shall  go  to  Purgatory,  and  in  virtue  of  thy  stigmata 
shalt  bring  out  thence  all  the  souls  of  thy  three  Orders, 
to  wit.  Minors,  Sisters,  and  Continents ;  and  likewise, 
others  that  shall  have  had  a  great  devotion  unto  thee, 
and  shalt  lead  them  unto  the  glory  of  Paradise,  to  the 
end  that  thou  mayest  be  conformed  to  me  in  death, 


58 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


as  thou  art  in  life."  These  words  simply  show  the 
progress  of  the  legend,  and  have  nothing  of  the 
dramatic  interest  of  the  vision  and  the  gift  of  the 
stigmata.  With  touching  humility,  as  it  is  narrated, 
Francis  tried  to  conceal  the  wounds,  and  yet  many 
saw  and  testified  that  they  had  seen  them.  A  knight 
of  renown,  Jerome  by  name,  was  the  doubting  Thomas 
of  this  new  Passion,  and  would  not  believe  till  the 
dead  Francis  appeared  and  made  him  touch  the  nails 
and  the  wound.  The  Lady  Jacoba,  who  in  the  legend 
was  present  at  the  death  of  Francis,  kissed  the  pierced 
feet  and  bathed  them  with  her  tears,  showing  herself 
another  Magdalene ;  while  Clara  and  her  Sisters,  at 
the  burial,  saw  the  tokens  of  the  Saviour's  favour. 
In  one  of  the  frescoes  of  Giotto  the  forms  of  Clara  and 
her  companions  may  be  seen  bending  over  the  body  of 
the  saint.  The  story  of  Gregory  ix.  and  the  stigmata 
is  thus  told  by  Lord  Lindsay :  "  He  hesitated  before 
canonising  St.  Francis,  doubting  the  celestial  infliction 
of  the  stigmata.  St.  Francis  appeared  to  him  in  a 
vision,  and,  with  a  severe  countenance  reproving  his 
unbelief,  opened  his  robe,  and,  exposing  the  wound  in 
his  side,  filled  a  vial  with  the  blood  that  flowed  from 
it,  and  gave  it  to  the  pope,  who  awoke  and  found  it  in 
his  hand." 

The  Minorites  and — of  importance  for  the  spread  of 
the  story — Gregory  ix.  and  Alexander  iv.  accepted  the 
genuineness  of  the  stigmata,  so  that  the  friends  of  the 
Order  were  satisfied  and  rejoiced  in  the  divine  honour. 
Zealots  have  believed  the  miracle;  sceptics  have  doubted, 
while  some  have  denied  it.  The  evidence,  such  as  it  is, 
makes  for  the  conclusion  that  the  body  bore  the  marks 
of  the  suffering  of  Christ.  Yet  there  has  been  evidence 


ST.  FRANCIS 


59 


of  the  same  kind  for  wonders  wliich  never  happened. 
There  are  those,  unconvinced  by  the  testimony  of  the 
saint's  friends,  who  disbelieving  the  miracle  regret  with 
artistic  sense  the  loss  of  the  dramatic  incident  of  the 
stigmata.  The  members  of  the  Order,  however,  have 
been  pleased  to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  saint's 
career  and  the  Saviour's  life,  and  to  accept  the  wounds 
as  a  si^rn  that  there  was  in  Francis  the  same  mind  as 
was  in  Christ. 

The  theory  has  been  suggested  that  Brother  Elias, 
who  intimated  the  death  of  Francis  to  the  Order,  was 
the  author  of  the  fraud  by  which  the  story  of  the 
stigmata  gained  acceptance.  The  intimation  contained 
these  words :  "  I  announce  to  you  a  great  joy  and  a 
new  miracle.  Never  has  the  world  seen  such  a  sign, 
except  on  the  Son  of  God  who  is  the  Christ  God.  For 
a  long  time  before .  his  death  our  Brother  and  Father 
appeared  as  crucified,  having  in  his  body  five  wounds 
which  are  truly  the  stigmata  of  Christ,  for  his  hands 
and  his  feet  bore  marks  as  of  nails  without  and  within, 
forming  a  sort  of  scars;  while  at  the  side  he  was  as  if 
pierced  with  a  lance,  and  often  a  little  blood  oozed 
from  it."  Professor  Hase,  and  M.  Renan  follows  him, 
suoff^ests  that  Elias  hurried  the  funeral,  and  when  veri- 
fication  was  impossible  invented  the  story.  Another 
theory  is  that  the  wounds  of  the  cautery  used  in  his 
last  sickness  were  the  orimn  of  the  leo^end  of  the  stifj- 
mata.  Such  a  theory  does  not  remove  the  difiiculty 
that  the  men  who  declared  themselves  witnesses  were 
not  likely  to  be  deceived  by  a  palpable  fraud. 

The  Dominicans  would  not  be  convinced  that  this 
divine  favour  had  been  granted  to  the  founder  of  the 
Franciscan  Order,  even  though  they  had  a  multitude 


6o  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  miracles  by  their  own  saint.  At  last  their  denials 
of  the  stigmata  were  silenced  by  papal  command.  In 
their  extremity  some  of  them,  changing  their  position, 
claimed  that  the  same  favour  had  been  shown  to 
Dominic ;  while  it  became  the  fashion,  after  the  death 
of  Catharine  of  Siena,  to  assert  for  her  the  honour  of 
the  wounds  of  Christ.  In  1475,  however,  Sixtus  iv. 
prohibited  the  ascription  of  the  stigmata  to  Catharine ; 
and  so  by  papal  decree  the  glory  rests  with  Francis 
alone. 

As  the  legend  of  St.  Francis  grew,  the  desire  of  his 
admirers  increased  to  make  him  like  unto  Christ. 
Peter  John  Olivi,  in  the  reign  of  John  xxii.,  wrote 
that  Francis  was  entirely  transformed  into  Christ ; 
and,  in  the  same  reign,  Francis  Bernard  Delitiosi  de- 
clared that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  not  more  sacred 
and  more  to  be  observed  than  the  Rule  of  St.  Francis. 
In  1385  Bartholomew  Abbizzi,  a  friar  of  Pisa,  wrote 
The  Golden  Book  of  the  Conformities  of  the  Holy 
Father  St.  Francis  with  the  Life  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  which  he  mentioned  forty  points  of  resem- 
blance, and  among  these  included  the  stigmata.  As 
late  as  1651  a  Spanish  monk  increased  the  points  of 
resemblance  to  four  thousand. 

After  the  incident  or  vision  of  the  stigmata,  Francis 
sought  the  aid  of  a  physician,  as  he  was  suffering  from 
an  affection  which  threatened  blindness.  An  operation 
on  the  forehead  was  performed  with  the  cautery,  but 
with  no  good  result.  Eager  none  the  less  to  continue 
his  labours,  he  preached  in  the  district  of  Rieti,  making 
missionary  excursions.  Strength  failed,  and,  as  Bona- 
ventura  reports,  "he  began  to  suffer  so  many  infirmities 
that  there  was  scarcely  one  of  his  members  but  was 


ST.  FRANCIS 


6i 


tormented  by  increased  pain  and  suffering."  As  early 
as  the  chapter  of  1221  his  weakness  had  almost 
mastered  him.  Wishing  to  address  the  Brothers,  he 
pulled  the  gown  of  Elias,  whispering  to  him,  and  then 
Elias  spoke  for  him.  Now,  in  his  feebleness,  he  de- 
sired to  leave  Rieti  and  to  reach  Assisi,  where  he 
was  comforted  with  the  welcome  of  the  people.  Six 
months  later  he  was  still  alive,  and  set  forth  on 
another  journey  in  quest  of  health,  only  to  be  brought 
back  in  a  litter  to  the  bishop's  palace.  A  few  days 
after  his  arrival  in  the  palace  he  was  taken  to  Porti- 
uncula.  "  Never  abandon  it,"  he  said  to  the  friars 
with  him,  "  for  that  place  is  truly  sacred  ;  it  is  the 
house  of  God."  On  the  road  to  the  palace  or  to 
.Portiuncula  he  caused  the  litter  to  be  placed  on  the 
ground,  that  he  might  gaze  on  Assisi ;  and  stretching 
forth  his  hand,  he  blessed  the  city  which  had  been  his 
home.  "  Blessed  be  thou  of  God,  O  holy  city," — these 
are  the  words  in  the  Little  Flowers — "seeing  that 
through  thee  shall  many  souls  be  saved,  and  in  thee 
shall  dwell  many  servants  of  the  Lord  :  and  out  of 
thee  shall  many  be  chosen  for  the  kingdom  of  eternal 
life."  He  was  borne  to  the  hospital,  such  as  it  was,  of 
Portiuncula,  and  there  he  dictated  his  last  Testament. 
An  incident  thus  recorded  shows  the  man :  "  Desirinir 
to  give  a  true  proof  to  all  men  that  he  had  no  longer 
anything  in  common  with  the  world,  in  that  grievous 
and  painful  sickness  he  laid  aside  his  habit,  and  placed 
himself  prostrate  on  the  bare  earth,  that  in  the  last 
hour  in  which  the  enemy  would  attack  him  with  all 
his  fury  he  might  wrestle  naked  with  his  natural 
adversary.  Lying  thus  on  the  earth  with  his  face 
raised,  according  to  his  custom,  to  heaven,  and  intent 


62 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


upon  its  glory,  with  his  left  hand  he  covered  the  wound 
on  his  right  side,  and  said  to  his  brethren,  '  I  have  done 
my  part :  may  Christ  teach  you  to  do  yours.'  "  Some 
of  the  friars  were  around  him,  among  them  men  who 
had  been  his  first  friends,  and  these  all  he  blessed. 
Clara  was  still  living,  but  the  stern  Rule  kept  her 
from  the  deathbed  of  her  dearest  friend.  Elias,  too, 
was  blessed,  though  the  extreme  Franciscans  of  later 
days,  beholding  in  him  another  Judas,  hated  his 
memory.  One  of  his  pious  disciples,  as  an  early 
biographer  relates,  saw  the  soul  of  the  saint,  in  the 
form  of  a  star,  brighter  than  the  sun,  conveyed  on  a 
white  cloud  over  many  waters  into  heaven.  Another, 
on  his  deathbed,  saw  the  spirit  of  the  saint  rising  to 
heaven,  and  cried,  "  Tarry,  father ;  I  come  with  thee," 
and  fell  back  dead.  The  legend  is  charming  which 
tells  that  larks,  late  in  the  evening  though  it  was, 
hovered  over  the  roof  of  his  last  dwelling.  Two 
years  before  his  death,  so  runs  the  story,  it  was 
revealed  to  him  what  the  number  of  his  days  should 
be. 

Francis  died  on  the  eve  of  3rd  October  1226,  and  in 
1228  was  canonised,  when  Ugolini,  as  Gregory  ix.,  sat 
on  the  papal  throne.  The  body  was  placed  in  the 
Church  of  St.  George,  and  when  it  was  being  carried 
to  its  resting-place  therein,  it  was  taken  past  St. 
Damian,  the  abode  of  Clara  and  the  Poor  Sisters.  The 
saint  had  asked  in  excess  of  humility,  but  the  request 
was  not  heeded,  to  be  buried  in  a  spot  where  criminals 
were  executed. 

In  1228,  after  the  ceremony  of  canonisation,  Gregory 
laid  the  foundation-stone  of  a  magnificient  basilica, 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  saint,  to  which  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


63 


body  was  ultimately  removed ;  and  le<^end  tclLs  that 
down  in  the  depths,  below  the  church,  Francis  in 
deep  meditation,  with  blood  in  the  stigmata,  waits 
for  a  resurrection  which  will  take  him  back  to  earth. 
The  pope  appointed  the  4th  of  October  as  the  feast  of 
Francis,  enjoining  the  people  to  keep  it,  that  they 
might  benefit  by  his  merits. 

Nothing  is  more  significant  of  the  reverence,  even 
though  mixed  with  superstition,  in  which  the  saint 
was  held  by  later  generations  than  the  fact  that,  to 
use  the  words  of  Wiclif :  "  Thei  teachen  lordis  and 
namely  ladies  that  if  thei  dyen  in  Franceys  habite, 
thei  schul  nevere  cum  in  helle  for  vertu  thereof." 
Catherine  of  Aragon  may  be  named  as  one  of  the 
•ladies  who,  at  a  later  day,  put  on  the  habit  of 
the  Order.  It  was,  however,  the  love  of  money 
w^hich  made  the  friars  teach  that  burial  in  their 
cloisters  was,  like  bounty  to  the  Order,  a  sure 
means  to  salvation ;  and  multitudes  believed  the 
teaching. 

Dante,  in  the  case  of  Guido  di  Montefeltro,  showed 
the  popular  belief  that  Francis  visited  hell  to  rescue 
those  girt  with  his  cord — 

"  I  was  a  man  of  arms,  then  Cordelier, 

Deeming  that  I,  so  girt,  might  make  amend  ; 

And  true  enough  that  deeming  might  appear, 
But  that  the  High  Priest -evil  l)e  his  end!  — 

Sent  me  back  jet  again  to  former  crime  ; 

Tlien  Francis  came,  wlien  I  had  passed  death's  gate, 

For  me  ;  but  one  of  those  swartli  cherubin 
Said,  'Take  him  not;  defraud  not  my  estate.'" 

The  Dominicans  also  taught  that  grace  was  to  be 


64  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


found  through  wearing  their  official  apparel.  Thus 
Milton  speaks — 

"  Dying,  put  on  tlie  weeds  of  Dominic, 

Or  in  Franciscan  think  to  pass  disguised." 

At  the  date  of  the  translation  of  the  body  a  scheme 
of  indulgences  was  devised  for  all  visitors  to  the 
cliurch.  The  Minorites  afterwards  claimed  Gregory's 
injunction  as  the  first  of  nineteen  bulls,  granted  at 
various  times,  which  assured  indulgences  to  such 
visitors.  The  Dominicans,  in  like  manner,  claimed 
that  similar  privileges  were  given  to  all  who  aided 
them  in  erecting  their  buildings.  To  such  uses  were 
Francis  and  Dominic  brought. 

Next  to  the  Rule  the  most  significant  writing  of 
Francis  is  the  Will  or  last  Testament,  which  Renan 
with  insufficient  reason  has  pronounced  a  forgery.  It 
is  even  more  significant,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  teaching 
of  the  man  untouched  by  any  representative  of  the 
Church,  a  return  to  the  simplicity  in  which  the 
Brothers  were  first  associated.  Reverence  towards 
priests,  obedience  to  the  superiors  of  the  Order,  and 
strict  adherence  to  the  Rule  are  enjoined.  There  is  once 
more  insistence  on  poverty ;  and  it  is  strange  to  find 
the  command  that  no  bull  from  Rome,  not  even  one 
ensuring  the  personal  protection  of  the  friars,  is  to  be 
accepted.  The  Brothers  are  to  work,  and  here  there  is 
evidence  of  the  saint's  attitude  to  mendicancy  : — "  and 
when  they  do  not  give  us  the  price  of  the  work,  let  us 
resort  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  begging  our  bread  from 
door  to  door." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  relations  of  Francis  to 
Rome,  and  especially  to  Ugolini,  there  is  in  the  Testa- 


ST.  FRANCIS 


65 


ment,  even  while  honour  is  directed  to  be  paid  to 
priests,  a  hist  cry  for  that  imitation  of  Christ  through 
poverty  and  simplicity  to  which  the  great  ecclesiastics 
were  deaf.  The  writer  himself  describes  his  Will  as  "  a 
reminder,  a  warning,  an  exhortation."  He  required 
that  nothing  should  be  taken  from  or  added  to  it,  and, 
though  this  reassertion  of  the  primitive  freedom  of  the 
Brotherhood  was  in  opposition  to  many  precepts  of  the 
Rule,  he  enjoined  that  the  Rule  and  Testament  should 
be  read  tojjether. 

Francis  never  directly  opposed  the  Church,  and 
against  its  policy  had  no  distinct  counterplan ;  but 
nowhere  was  it  more  clearly  shown  than  in  the  Will 
that  his  heart  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  violent 
changes  made  in  the  organisation  and  purposes  of  the 
Order.  With  his  last  words  he  emphasised  the  principles 
of  labour,  poverty,  and  love  which  had  governed  the 
Brothers  when  first  they  went  out  into  the  world. 

In  spite  of  austere  poverty  there  was  in  Francis 
none  of  the  gloom  of  asceticism.  The  Troubadours  had 
fascinated  him  in  his  youth,  and  there  was  ever  the 
element  of  joy  in  his  religion.  It  is  possible  to  isolate 
some  of  his  words,  and  to  argue  that  there  was  even  a 
IManichjBan  basis  to  his  thought.  "  Many  when  they 
sin  or  are  injured,"  he  said,  "blame  their  enemy  or 
neighbour.  This  should  not  be  so,  for  everyone  has 
his  enemy  in  his  power,  namely,  the  body  through 
which  he  sins."  In  a  threatened  conflict  with  demons 
— as  Francis  in  common  with  all  saints  named  certain 
spiritual  experiences — he  welcomed  them,  saying  his 
body  was  his  worst  enemy,  and  that  they  could  do 
with  it  whatsoever  Christ  would  permit ;  and,  on 
another  occasion,  he  described  his  body  as  his  most 
5 


66  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


cruel  enemy  and  worst  adversary,  whom  he  would 
willingly  abandon  to  the  demons.  On  the  other  side, 
we  hear  him  saying,  "  I  have  sinned  against  my  brother 
the  ass,"  and  understand  that  he  had  been  too  severe 
to  his  body.  Again,  with  an  insight  unusual  in 
medieval  days,  he  doubted  "  whether  he  who  had  de- 
stroyed himself  by  the  severity  of  his  penances  could 
find  mercy  in  eternity."  Yet  he  attributed  to  the 
devil  the  words :  "  Francis,  there  is  no  sinner  in  the 
world  whom,  if  he  be  converted,  God  will  not  pardon ; 
but  he  who  kills  himself  by  hard  penances  will  find  no 
mercy  in  eternity."  There  was  no  thought  of  the 
devil,  however,  when  he  carried  bread  to  one  who 
had  fasted  to  the  serious  injury  of  health.  The  friar 
would  not  eat,  whereat  Francis,  breaking  the  bread, 
ate  of  it  himself,  and  said :  "  Take  not  the  eating,  but 
the  love,  my  brethren,  for  your  example."  Francis 
was  not  speculative,  and  the  popular  metaphysic,  so 
far  as  he  knew  it,  dominated  him.  In  conduct,  how- 
ever, he  adopted  simplicity,  and  less  than  many  saints 
indulged  in  excess  of  fasting.  To  make  him  like  unto 
Christ,  legend  tells  that  on  one  occasion  he  fasted 
forty  days  and  forty  nights,  eating  no  more  than  one 
half  loaf.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  description  in 
the  Little  Flowers  of  the  chapter  of  the  Brothers,  at 
which  Dominic  was  said  to  be  present,  and  it  is  told 
how  men  came  "  with  sumpter  beasts,  horses  and  carts, 
with  loads  of  bread,  of  wine,  of  honeycombs,  and 
cheese,  and  other  good  things  to  eat,  according  as  the 
poor  of  Christ  had  need."  The  absence  of  austerity 
from  the  religion  of  Francis  is  seen  from  another 
passage  of  the  Little  Flowers,  which,  though  it  may  be 
unfounded,  illustrates  the  impression  created  by  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


67 


saint.  He  was  told  at  tlie  chapter — that  at  which  pro- 
vision was  so  abundantly  made  for  the  wants  of  "  the 
poor  of  Christ " — that  many  of  the  Brothers  "  wore 
shirts  of  mail  on  their  bare  flesh,  and  bands  of  iron, 
for  the  which  reason  many  were  weak  and  some  were 
dying  thereby,  and  many  were  let  and  hindered  from 
prayer.  Wherefore  Saint  Francis,  like  a  most  prudent 
father,  commanded  by  holy  obedience  that  whoso  had 
either  shirt  of  mail  or  band  of  iron  should  take  it  off 
and  lay  it  down  before  him,  and  even  so  did  they." 

The  saint,  while  certainly  not  emancipated  from 
the  religious  or  ethical  ideas  peculiar  to  his  age,  was 
no  lover  of  extremes.  Assuredly  he  did  not  see  that 
asceticism,  sacrifice  for  sacrifice'  sake,  could  not  be 
acceptable  to  Him  who  asked  for  the  broken  spirit 
and  the  contrite  heart.  On  the  other  hand,  his  poverty 
was  intended  as  an  imitation  of  Christ,  and  he  did  not 
starve  like  some  zealot  of  the  fields,  or  torture  his  flesh 
with  many  stripes  that  he  might  be  healed.  Such 
customs  could  not  be  included  in  an  imitation  of 
Christ;  and  thus  there  is  no  revolting  picture  of 
emaciation  or  self-violence.  It  is  of  moment,  in  under- 
standing the  man,  to  note  that  cloister  life  was  not 
his  ideal.  He  knew  the  meaning  of  the  prayer  of  the 
Lord,  not  to  take  men  out  of  the  world,  but  to  keep 
them  from  the  evil  thereof ;  and  through  the  world  he 
went  as  one  with  a  mission,  despising  the  ease  of  the 
convent,  and  choosing  rather  to  find  salvation  in  seek- 
ing the  lost  than  to  nurture  his  own  soul  far  off"  from 
earthly  interests. 

Francis  was  never  so  separated  from  the  spirit  of 
his  age  as  to  be  free  from  sadness  in  his  theology. 
Speculation  on  the  doctrine  of  sin  and  contemplation 


68  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  the  physical  sufferings  of  Christ  characterised 
cloister  theology,  and  influenced  the  whole  of 
medieval  religious  thought.  Yet  the  genius  of  Francis 
kept  him  from  morbid  imaginations.  Ruskin,  who 
understood  him,  has  used  words  which  do  not  repre- 
sent the  saint.  "  Now  the  gospel  of  works,"  he  says, 
"according  to  St.  Francis,  lay  in  three  things.  You 
must  work  without  money,  and  be  poor.  You  must 
work  without  pleasure,  and  be  chaste.  You  must 
work  according  to  orders,  and  be  obedient."  Work 
was  to  be  without  pleasure,  not  that  the  worker  should 
be  sad,  but  that  he  should  be  kept  from  the  vulgar 
ends  of  labour.  More  truly  it  may  be  said  that  joy  in 
life,  not  the  gloom  of  asceticism,  was  characteristic  of 
Francis;  and  in  that  joy  there  was  a  lyric  element. 
He  sang  as  he  went  abroad  on  his  missionary  journeys. 
He  knew  and  loved  French,  and  had  sung  the  Trouba- 
dour songs,  the  melody  of  which  was  in  his  heart,  if 
the  words  could  not  be  on  his  lips.  A  charming  legend 
relates  that  heavenly  music  floated  through  his  cell 
when  he  desired  comfort,  and  there  was  no  human 
hand  to  touch  an  instrument  for  his  delight.  The 
Canticle  of  the  Sun,  or  the  Canticle  of  the  Creatures,  as 
it  is  also  called,  is  attributed  to  Francis,  though  there  is 
no  reference  to  it  till,  in  1385,  it  was  quoted  by  Bar- 
tholomew of  Pisa.  The  verse  is  irregular,  and  yet  there 
is  a  tradition  that  Francis  had  it  revised  by  Brother 
Pacifico,  the  king  of  verse,  as  he  has  been  styled. 
The  lyric  feeling  of  a  singer  and  the  aspiration  of  a 
religious  man  are  alike  visible,  and  since  the  author 
speaks,  as  Francis  was  wont  to  do,  of  the  sun  as  his 
brother,  the  moon  as  his  sister,  and  the  earth  as  his 
mother,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  was  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


69 


author.  Matthew  Arnold's  translation  may  be  quoted 
as  the  version  of  an  English  poet : — 

"  0  Most  High,  Almighty,  good  Lord  God,  to  Thee 
belong  praise,  glory,  honour,  and  all  blessing ! 

"Praised  be  my  Lord  God  with  all  His  creatures, 
and  specially  our  brother  the  sun,  who  brings  us  the 
day  and  who  brings  us  the  light ;  fair  is  he,  and  shines 
with  a  very  great  splendour :  O  Lord,  he  signifies  to 
us  Thee ! 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  sister  the  moon,  and 
for  the  stars,  the  which  He  has  set  clear  and  lovely  in 
heaven. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  brother  the  wind,  and 
for  air  and  cloud,  calms  and  all  weather,  by  the  which 
Thou  upholdest  life  in  all  creatures. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  sister  water,  who  is 
very  serviceable  unto  us,  and  humble  and  precious  and 
clean. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  brother  fire,  through 
whom  Thou  givest  us  light  in  the  darkness ;  and  he  is 
bright  and  pleasant  and  very  mighty  and  strong. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  mother  the  earth,  the 
which  doth  sustain  us  and  keep  us,  and  bringeth  forth 
divers  fruits  and  flowers  of  many  colours,  and  grass. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  all  those  who  pardon  one 
another  for  His  love's  sake,  and  who  endure  weakness 
and  tribulation ;  blessed  are  they  who  peaceably  shall 
endure,  for  Thou,  O  Most  Highest,  shall  give  them  a 
crown. 

"  Praised  be  my  Lord  for  our  sister,  the  death  of  the 
body,  from  which  no  man  escapeth.  Woe  to  him  who 
dieth  in  mortal  sin !    Blessed  are  they  wlio  are  found 


70  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


walking  by  Thy  most  holy  will,  for  the  second  death 
shall  have  no  power  to  do  them  harm. 

"  Praise  ye  and  bless  the  Lord,  and  give  thanks  unto 
Him,  and  serve  Him  with  great  humility." 

It  is  said  that  the  verse  regarding  pardon  and  peace 
was  written  on  account  of  a  dispute  between  the  Bishop 
and  the  magistrates  of  Assisi,  and  that  when  the 
Brothers  sang  it  in  the  city  the  adversaries  were  re- 
conciled. Francis'  love  of  song  inspired  his  companions, 
and  in  this  fashion,  more  than  by  actual  authorship, 
he  influenced  the  rise  and  progress  of  Italian  vernacular 
verse.  He  and  certain  of  his  friars  may  be  styled  with- 
out hesitation  the  originators  of  that  verse.  Of  the 
Canticle  of  the  Sun,  Ozanam,  in  Les  Poetes  Franciscains, 
has  said :  "  Ce  n'est  qu'un  cri ;  mais  c'est  le  premier 
cri  d'une  poesie  naissante,  qui  grandira  et  qui  saura  se 
faire  entendre  de  toute  la  terre."  In  tracing  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Franciscans  on  early  Italian  literature, 
this  writer  mentions,  in  addition  to  the  saint  himself 
and  the  authors  of  the  Little  Floiuers,  the  unnamed 
Brother  Pacifico,  who  had  been  a  Troubadour,  and 
Giacopone  di  Todi — 

"  That  son  of  Italy  who  tried  to  blow, 

Ere  Dante  came,  the  trump  of  sacred  song." 

The  Dies  Ii'se  has,  not  without  plausible  reason,  been 
ascribed  to  Thomas  of  Celano,  the  biographer  of  Francis. 
Giacopone  di  Todi  was  a  lawyer,  who  on  the  death  of 
his  wife  joined  the  Third  Order  of  the  Minorites.  For 
ten  years  he  feigned  madness,  that  he  might  secure  ill- 
treatment  in  which  to  exercise  patience,  and  then 
became  a  friar.    The  Stabat  Mater  Dolorosa  was  his 


ST.  FRANCIS 


71 


work,  and  in  another  direction  he  gained  notoriety 
by  his  satires  against  Boniface  viii.  Not  the  least, 
certainly,  of  the  services  which  Francis  and  his  fol- 
lowers rendered  to  Italy  was  the  use  of  the  vernacular 
as  a  vehicle  for  the  expression  of  lyric  feeling.  "  The 
beginnings,"  says  Matthew  Arnold,  "of  the  mundane 
poetry  of  the  Italians  are  in  Sicily,  at  the  Court  of 
kings ;  the  beginnings  of  their  religious  poetry  are  in 
Umbria,  with  St.  Francis.  His  are  the  humble  upper 
waters  of  a  mighty  stream :  at  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century  it  is  St.  Francis ;  at  the  end,  Dante." 
Harnack,  in  his  History  of  Dogma,  thus  characterises 
the  influence  of  the  mendicants  on  poetry :  "  A  lyric 
poetry  that  awakens  a  response  in  us  exists  only  from 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  what  force  the  Latin  and 
German  tongues  are  capable  of  developing  in  describing 
the  inner  life  we  have  been  taught  by  the  mendicant 
monks.  From  the  discernment  that  lowliness  and 
poverty,  scorn  and  contempt,  shame  and  misery,  sufier- 
ing  and  death,  are  aids  to  the  saint's  progress,  from  the 
contemplation  of  the  man  Jesus,  from  compassion,  and 
pain,  and  humility,  there  sprang  for  Western  Chris- 
tianity, in  the  age  of  the  mendicant  monks,  that  inner 
elevation,  and  that  enrichment  of  feelincr  and  of  moral 
responsibility,  which  were  the  condition  for  all  that 
was  to  grow  up  in  the  time  that  followed.  One 
speaks  of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation,  and 
comprehends  in  these  words,  taken  together,  the  basis 
of  our  present-day  culture ;  but  both  have  a  strong 
common  root  in  the  elevation  of  religious  and  cesthetic 
feeling  in  the  period  of  the  mendicant  monks." 

The  personiflcation  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  wind 
in  the  Canticle  was  more  than  a  mere  literary  figure. 


72  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Francis  was  love-intoxicated,  touching  all  nature  with 
his  sympathy.  The  world  was  not  for  him  harsh  and 
hateful,  given  over  to  the  Evil  One.  It  was  a  world 
with  God  everywhere,  with  all  things  His,  and  there- 
fore to  be  loved.  Even  to  death,  sister  death,  as  a 
divine  servant,  he  extended  his  courtesy.  "  But  now 
we  have  to  speak,"  says  Goethe  in  Wilhelm  Meister, 
"  of  the  Third  Religion,  grounded  on  reverence  for 
what  is  beneath  us.  .  .  .  But  what  a  task  was  it, 
not  only  to  be  patient  with  the  Earth,  .  .  .  but 
also  to  recognise  humility  and  poverty,  mockery  and 
despite,  disgrace  and  wretchedness,  suffering  and  death, 
to  recognise  these  things  as  divine."  One  seems  to 
hear  in  these  words  an  echo  of  the  famous  Canticle  ; 
and  Francis,  one  may  believe,  furnished  Goethe  with 
the  content  of  the  Third  Religion.  The  habit  of 
courtesy  had  been  fostered  in  Francis  by  acquaintance 
with  the  knightly  customs  of  the  Troubadour  songs. 
Doubtless  there  was  a  suggestion  of  artificiality  when 
he  addressed  the  wind  as  his  brother,  and  of  sentiment- 
ality when  he  spoke  of  sister  death ;  yet  the  large 
heart  and  glowing  piety  of  the  man  shone  forth  in  his 
gentleness  to  animals,  as  when  he  spoke  to  the  birds 
that  had  gathered  round  him.  There  were  birds  on 
the  ground,  and  others  flew  down  from  the  trees,  and 
all  remained  quiet  while  he  said  :  "  My  little  sisters,  the 
birds,  mucli  bounden  are  ye  unto  God,  your  Creator, 
and  alway  in  every  place  ought  ye  to  praise  Him,  for 
that  He  hath  given  you  liberty  to  fly  about  every- 
where, and  hath  also  given  you  double  and  triple 
raiment;  moreover.  He  preserved  your  seed  in  the 
ark  of  Noah,  that  your  race  miglit  not  perish  out  of 
the  world ;  still  more  are  ye  beholden  to  Him  for  the 


ST.  FRANCIS 


73 


element  of  tlie  air  which  He  hath  appointed  for  you  ; 
beyond  all  this,  ye  sow  not,  neither  do  you  reap ;  and 
God  feedeth  you,  and  giveth  you  the  streams  and 
fountains  for  your  drink,  the  mountains  and  the 
valleys  for  your  refuge  and  high  trees  whereon  to 
make  your  nests ;  and  because  ye  know  not  how  to  spin 
or  sow,  God  clotheth  you,  you  and  your  children  ; 
wherefore  your  Creator  loveth  you  much,  seeing  that 
He  hath  bestowed  on  you  so  many  benefits ;  and 
therefore,  my  little  sisters,  beware  of  the  sin  of 
ingratitude,  and  study  always  to  give  praises  unto 
God."  Biographers  have  related  how  the  birds 
gathered  round  St.  Gall  and  St.  Columba,  but  in  the 
whole  calendar  of  saints  there  has  been  no  one  with  a 
sympathy  keener  than  that  which  Francis  had  for 
birds  and  beasts.  Very  charming  is  the  story  of  the 
swallows.  Once,  when  preaching,  he  could  not  make 
himself  heard  for  their  chirping.  "  It  is,"  he  said,  "  my 
turn  to  speak,  little  sister  swallows,  hearken  to  the 
word  of  God ;  keep  silent  and  be  very  quiet  until  I 
have  finished."  A  leveret  which  had  been  caui^ht  in  a 
trap  he  thus  addressed  :  "  Come  to  me,  brother  leveret." 
Touched  with  its  sorrow,  he  extended  to  it  that 
sympathy  which  he  had  ever  ready  for  the  afflictions 
of  men.  "If  I  could  only  be  presented  to  the 
emperor,"  he  said  on  one  occasion,  "  I  would  pray  him, 
for  the  love  of  God  and  of  me,  to  issue  an  edict 
prohibiting  anyone  from  catching  or  imprisoning  my 
sisters  the  larks,  and  orderincr  that  all  who  have  oxen 
or  asses  should  at  Christmas  feed  them  particularly 
well."  "  The  sermon  to  the  birds,"  says  Sabatier, 
"  closed  the  reign  of  Byzantine  art,  and  of  the  thought 
of  which  it  was  the  image.    It  is  the  end  of  dogmatism 


74  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


and  authority;  it  is  the  coming  in  of  individualism 
and  inspiration;  very  uncertain,  no  doubt,  and  to 
be  followed  by  obstinate  reactions,  but  none  the  less 
marking  a  date  in  the  history  of  the  human  conscience." 
That  sermon,  says  Renan,  with  amusing  disdain  of 
elaborate  systems,  is  "le  resume  de  toute  bonne 
theologie."  "I  should  myself  think  the  clergyman," 
says  Ruskin  in  "  The  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Church," 
"  most  likely  to  do  good  who  accepted  the  -raff?)  rfj  -/.tIcsi 
so  literally  as  at  least  to  sympathise  with  St.  Francis' 
sermon  to  the  birds,  and  to  feel  that  feeding  either 
sheep  or  fowls,  or  muzzling  the  ox,  or  keeping  the 
wrens  alive  in  the  snow,  would  be  received  by  their 
Heavenly  Father  as  the  'perfect  fulfilment  of  His  '  Feed 
my  sheep '  in  the  higher  sense." 

Love  was  to  Francis  the  beginning  and  end  of  religion, 
and  religion  was  no  mere  service  at  the  altar  of  the 
Church,  no  mere  repetition  of  prayers  within  its  walls. 
His  love  found  its  inspiration  in  Christ,  and  it  extended 
to  all  that  he  conceived  to  be  His,  to  the  poor  and  unfor- 
tunate, to  the  birds  and  beasts,  even  to  the  sun  and  wind, 
and  to  death  itself.  He  is  not  less  to  be  admired,  not  less 
of  a  saint,  because  he  had,  as  he  seems  to  have  had,  his 
dream  of  domestic  affection.  There  is  a  charming 
childishness,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  revelation  of  the 
pathos  of  unfulfilled  desires,  in  the  story  that  one  of 
the  Brothers  saw  him  in  the  moonlight  make  seven 
figures  of  snow,  and  heard  him  say  :  "  Here  is  thy 
wife,  these  four  are  thy  sons  and  daughters,  the  other 
two  are  thy  servant  and  handmaid ;  and  for  all  these 
thou  are  bound  to  provide.  Make  haste,  then,  and 
provide  clothing  for  them,  lest  they  perish  with  cold. 
But  if  the  care  of  so  many  trouble  thee,  be  thou 


ST.  FRANCIS 


75 


careful  to  serve  the  Lord  alone."  His  pious  imagina- 
tion was  touched  by  the  scene  of  Bethlehem  where 
Christ  was  born.  The  humility  of  that  birth  quickened 
in  him  the  desire  for  poverty  ;  and  the  ox  and  the  ass 
that  stood  at  the  Master's  crib  warmed  his  affection  for 
animals.  With  the  papal  consent  he  introduced  into 
the  Christmas  services  in  the  chapels  of  the  Order 
representations  of  the  surroundings  of  the  Saviour's 
birth,  means  not  the  least  potent  to  excite  devotion. 

It  is  not  mere  fancy  to  designate  Francis  the 
inspirer  of  the  great  artists  from  Cimabue  and  Giotto 
to  Raphael.  Before  he  appeared  as  a  preacher  of 
religion,  it  has  been  well  said,  God  in  Christ,  Christ  in 
God,  was  far  off  from  the  world ;  but  he  showed  the 
man  Christ,  and  made  men  feel  their  own  kinship  with 
God.  What  was  divine  could  be  set  forth  only  through 
that  which  was  human.  And  for  this  teacher  nature 
was  God's,  and  man  and  nature  were  not  at  enmity. 
Then  again,  in  his  preaching  the  old  religious  world 
with  its  lawgivers,  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  and 
saints  became  alive  once  more ;  his  vivid  imagination 
quickened  the  dead,  and  they  walked  on  earth.  As 
Christ  inspired  His  apostles  who  carried  His  gospel 
over  the  world,  so  Francis  gave  his  message  to  liis 
friars,  who,  having  seen  Christ  as  man,  and  God  in  the 
world  and  in  man  also,  and  having  felt  the  presence  of 
the  heroes  of  religion,  were  faithful  to  their  charge  ; 
and,  as  one  says,  Giotto,  who  heard  the  message,  began 
the  art  of  the  Renaissance.  Poetry  and  painting,  apart 
from  religion  proper,  caught  an  inspiration  from  the 
saint,  and,  like  piety  itself,  were  quickened  into 
newness  and  fulness  of  life. 

A  modern  writer  on  Dante,  after  referrino-  to  the 


76 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


tradition  that  that  poet  was  in  Assisi  when  Giotto 
was  painting  his  frescoes,  says :  "  Note  the  singularly 
Dantesque  symbolism  of  these  frescoes,  the  Tower  of 
Chastity,  with  her  true  servants  driving  off  the  blind 
Cupid  with  his  arrows,  emblem  of  sensual  love,  into 
the  abyss.  .  .  .  Observe  the  Centaur,  cowed,  in  his 
brute  strength,  by  the  law  of  obedience  ;  while  Pru- 
dence (in  its  full  platonic  sense  as  including  all  ethical 
wisdom)  presents,  after  a  Janus  fashion,  on  one 
side  her  severity  and  on  the  other  her  goodness,— and 
the  conclusion  is,  I  think,  legitimate,  as  far  as  any 
conclusion  from  circumstantial  evidence  can  be,  that 
there  was  some  link  closel}?-  connecting  one  period 
of  Dante's  life  with  the  influence  of  the  Franciscan 
Order."  Let  this  conclusion  be  admitted,  and  there  is 
the  fact  that  Francis  inspired  the  poetry  which  was 
represented  in  its  grace  and  strength  by  Dante,  who  in 
turn  left  his  impress  on  the  art  of  Giotto,  a  painter 
quickened  by  the  genius  of  the  saint. 

In  Francis'  private  life  there  was  a  touch  of  almost 
romantic  spiritual  affection  for  Clara  of  the  Poor  Ladies. 
The  Rule  permitted  him  to  see  her  but  seldom,  yet  when 
he  was  in  trouble  he  went  to  her  for  sympathy ;  and 
her  prayers  were  constantly  offered  on  his  behalf.  On 
one  occasion,  and  one  only  according  to  the  record, 
Clara  desired  to  visit  Francis  and  eat  with  him.  For 
a  time  he  would  not  receive  her,  till,  hearing  of  her 
grief,  his  companions  said  to  him :  "  Father,  it  seemeth 
that  this  sternness  is  not  in  accordance  with  divine 
charity ;  hearken  now  unto  Clara,  a  virgin,  holy  and 
beloved  of  God.  It  is  but  a  little  thing  that  she  asks 
of  thee,  to  eat  with  her ;  and  she,  at  thy  preaching, 
forsook  all  that  the  world  offers  of  joy  and  society  and 


ST.  FRANCIS 


77 


wealth."  Francis  at  last  agreed,  ordering  preparations 
to  be  made  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Angels, 
where  Clara  had  taken  the  vow  of  poverty.  Clara 
arrived  with  one  of  the  nuns,  and  found  the  feast 
spread  upon  the  floor.  The  meal  was  much  more  than 
the  breakintr  of  bread,  as  Francis  talked  of  God  and 
His  love  in  such  fashion  that  the  friends  forgot  to  eat. 
The  meeting,  if  it  ever  took  place,  was  one  of  the 
charming  incidents  in  the  lives  of  these  two  saints 
of  the  Order  of  Poverty.  Their  names  are  linked 
together  like  Jerome  and  Paula,  Benedict  and  his 
sister  Scholastica,  in  ecclesiastical  history ;  like  Dante 
and  Beatrice,  Petrarch  and  Laura,  in  literature;  and 
many  have  deemed  the  affection  of  Francis  and  Clara 
more  than  spiritual,  an  offering  on  that  altar  of  God 
which  not  seldom  has  received  the  sacrifice  of  the 
most  tender  love. 

Poverty  was  the  watchword  of  Francis,  summing  up 
for  him  all  active  virtues.  Before  his  day  religion  was 
little  more  than  attention  to  the  observances  of  the 
Church.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  preacher  of 
personal  piety.  His  love  flowed  to  Christ,  and  conduct 
was  an  imitation  of  His  sacred  life.  Dominic  in  the 
same  manner  sought  to  invite  men  to  religion, 
preaching  the  gospel  and  teaching  the  truths  of  the 
Church's  dogma.  Francis  chose  to  preach,  but  also  to 
show  forth  the  beauty  of  holiness  by  imitation  of, 
Christ.  The  end  sought  by  the  two  saints  alike  was| 
to  stimulate  piety,  not  by  drawing  men  to  the  cloister 
for  contemplation,  but  by  keeping  them  in  the  world 
for  the  practice  of  righteousness. 

The  mendicants,  while  acting  as  the  servants  of  the 
Church,   unintentionally   fostered   the   tendency  to 


78  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


criticise  ecclesiastical  pretensions  and  priestly  pro- 
fessions, and  to  examine  the  validity  of  the  dogma. 
Stimulated  to  piety,  the  soul  found  freedom  and 
rejoiced,  and  in  its  freedom  took  up  the  task  of 
testing  authority,  and  the  Reformation  was  the  far-off 
result.  Taught  by  the  mendicants  that  religion  must 
govern  conduct,  men  listened  to  their  doctrine,  and 
inquired,  and  thought,  and  judged. 

A  clear  insight  into  the  religion  of  Francis,  or  at 
least  of  the  good  friars  with  whom  the  story  originated, 
is  obtained  from  the  chapter  of  the  Little  Flowers 
which  is  styled,  "  How,  as  Saint  Francis  and  Brother 
Leo  were  going  by  the  way,  he  set  forth  unto  him  what 
things  were  perfect  joy."  Though  one  should  perform 
all  miracles,  the  saint  said,  such  as  giving  sight  to 
the  blind,  or  making  the  deaf  to  hear,  one  would  not 
therein  find  perfect  joy.  Then  going  on  with  Brother 
Leo,  Francis  continued,  that  though  one  knew  all 
tono'ues  and  all  sciences,  one  would  not  therein  find 
perfect  joy.  Then  again  he  said,  that  though  one 
should  speak  with  the  tongue  of  angels  and  know  the 
courses  of  the  stars,  one  would  not  therein  find  perfect 
joy.  Going  still  farther  on  his  way,  he  cried  aloud  :  "  O 
Brother  Leo,  albeit  the  Brother  Minor  could  preach  so 
well  as  to  turn  all  the  infidels  to  the  faith  of  Christ, 
write  that  not  therein  is  perfect  joy."  Then  Brother 
Leo  besought  him  saying :  "  Father,  I  pray  thee  in  the 
name  of  God  that  thou  tell  me  wherein  is  perfect  joy." 
Francis  thereupon  pictured  himself  and  Leo,  wet  and 
cold  and  dirty  and  hungry,  at  the  gate  of  St.  Mary  of 
the  Angels,  and  the  porter  reviling  them  as  no  true 
men,  and  bidding  them  be  off ;  and  declared  :  "  If  there- 
withal we   patiently  endure  such  wrong  and  such 


ST.  FRANCIS 


79 


cruelty  and  such  rebuffs  without  being  disquieted  and 
without  murmuring  against  him,  and  with  humbleness 
and  charity  bethink  us  that  this  porter  knows  us  full 
well,  and  that  God  makes  him  to  speak  against  us ;  O 
Brother  Leo,  write  that  herein  is  perfect  joy."  Con- 
tinuing, he  spoke  of  them  as  thrown  down  and  beaten 
and  suffering  with  patience  and  gladness,  thinking  on 
the  pains  of  the  blessed  Christ,  and  thus  concluded  :  "  O 
Brother  Leo,  write  that  here  and  herein  is  perfect  joy. 
Then  hear  the  end  of  the  whole  matter.  Brother  Leo : 
Above  all  graces  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
Christ  granteth  to  His  beloved,  is  to  overcome  oneself, 
and  willingly  for  the  love  of  Christ  endure  pains  and 
insults  and  shame  and  want." 

The  lesson  thus  taught  was  a  lesson  in  obedience  to 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  to  the  command  "  resist  not 
evil."  Obedience  to  Christ  and  imitation  of  Him,  in- 
spired by  love,  were  the  very  essence  of  the  religion  of 
Francis.  Saints  before  him  had  been  consumed  by 
adoration  of  the  Saviour,  and  in  truth  had  destroyed 
their  manhood  in  the  contemplation  of  the  cloister. 
But  he  was  not  consumed.  Filled  he  was  with  a  passion 
which  led  him  to  conquer  himself,  and  to  go  forth  to 
those  whom  Christ's  own  love  embraced.  That  which 
Francis  taught  was  taken  by  his  followers,  and  set 
forth  in  the  verse  of  poets  like  Giacopone  di  Todi, 
and  the  prose  of  mystics  like  Bonaventura.  It  is  the 
doctrine  that  poverty  and  humility,  insult  and  shame, 
suffering  and  death  may,  by  an  inspiration  derived 
through  contemplation  of  Christ,  become  helps  to  the 
progress  of  the  soul.  The  mean  things  of  life  may  lose 
their  vileness,  and  minister  unto  salvation. 

Writers  such  as  Renan  in  France,  Thode  in  Germany, 


So  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


and  Kuenen  in  Holland,  have  associated  the  names 
of  Buddha  and  Francis.  The  Eastern  sage  and  the 
Western  saint  each  stepped  beyond  the  bounds  of 
formal  religion,  each  sought  through  poverty,  through 
a  renunciation  of  all  material  possessions,  to  be  free 
from  the  tyranny  of  a  sordid  world,  and  each  tried 
through  mastery  of  the  body  to  secure  direction  of 
himself.  Of  less  importance  in  the  parallel,  each  had 
associated  with  him  a  band  of  mendicant  monks.  But 
there  was  a  difference.  Buddha  was  a  thinker,  this  way 
and  that  dividing  the  things  of  the  spirit,  and  few 
there  were  who  found  him.  Francis  was  a  poet,  his 
thought  kindled  by  feeling,  his  life  artistically  shaped 
by  love ;  and  he  was  to  many  as  another  Christ,  perfect 
through  poverty,  humility,  and  love. 


CHAPTER  IV 
St.  Dominic 

Dominic,  whose  name  is  found  in  the  famous  Order, 
was  born  in  the  year  1170,  in  the  Castilian  village  of 
Calaruega.  His  father  Felix,  it  is  generally  said,  was 
a  member  of  the  ancient  house  of  Guzman ;  and  his 
mother,  Joanna  of  Aza,  was  also  of  noble  birth.  She 
was  noted  for  piety,  and  through  the  intercession,  we 
are  told,  of  St.  Dominic  of  Silos,  a  son  was  bom  to  her 
when  her  two  eldest  boys  had  entered  the  cloister. 
This  child  was  named  Dominic.  Before  his  birth  she 
beheld  him,  according  to  the  legend,  as  a  black  and 
white  dog,  grasping  with  his  mouth  a  torch  which 
illuminated  the  whole  world ;  while  liis  godmother  saw 
him  with  a  star  on  his  forehead  and  another  on  his 
neck,  in  token  that  he  would  give  light  to  East  and 
West.  The  boy  was  reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  religion, 
and  the  record  is  ample  of  his  precocious  piety,  and 
the  miracles  which  attended  his  infancy.  He  left  his 
bed  at  midnight  to  kneel  in  prayer  on  the  floor,  and 
answered  his  nurse  that  for  this  he  had  come. 

"  Silent  and  wakeful  oft  in  midnight's  gloom 
He  by  his  nurse  was  seen  upon  the  ground, 
As  though  he  said,  'To  tliis  end  have  I  conic.'" 

On  one  occasion  a  swarm  of  bees  settled  on  his  lips, 
6 


82 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


to  foretell  his  eloquence.  In  his  fifteenth  year  he  was 
sent  to  the  public  school  or  university  of  Palencia, 
where  he  continued  for  ten  years.  Tales  of  his  charity 
are  narrated.  Finding  a  woman  unable  to  purchase 
a  friend's  release  from  captivity,  he  offered  himself  to 
be  sold  that  money  for  a  ransom  might  be  obtained. 
Again,  in  a  time  of  famine,  he  parted  with  his  books 
and  furniture  that  he  might  buy  bread  for  the  hungry. 

Having  left  Palencia,  Dominic,  at  the  desire  of  the 
bishop,  became  one  of  the  canons  regular  attached  to 
the  Cathedral  of  Osma ;  and  in  a  short  time  his  austerity 
and  piety  won  for  him  the  place  of  sub-prior,  under 
Diego  de  Azevedo,  who  was  to  exercise  a  lasting  influ- 
ence on  his  career.  His  favourite  book  at  this  period 
was  the  Collationes  of  Cassian,  a  writer  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fifth  century,  who  dealt  with  the  spirit  and 
aim  of  monasticism. 

The  first  event  of  public  interest  in  the  life  of 
Dominic  was  the  association  in  1203  with  Azevedo, 
at  that  time  Bishop  of  Osma,  in  an  embassy  to  arrange 
a  royal  marriage.  Crossing  the  Pyrenees,  they  passed 
through  Languedoc,  and  were  witnesses  of  religious 
degradation  and  priestly  apathy  in  that  territory 
which  now  forms  a  part  of  France.  When  they  had 
completed  the  business  of  the  embassy  and  were  return- 
ing to  Spain,  they  visited  Rome.  There  the  bishop 
sought  release  from  the  duties  of  his  see  that  he  might 
proceed  as  a  missionary  to  certain  wild  tribes  in  Hun- 
gary. Innocent  ill.  refused  this  request,  and  the  bishop 
and  his  companion  continued  their  homeward  journey. 
At  Montpellier  they  met  the  papal  legates  who  were 
conferring  as  to  the  heresy  disturbing  the  district. 
They  were  told  that  poverty  was  a  special  feature  of 


ST,  DOMINIC 


S3 


the  life  of  the  heretical  teachers  ;  and  it  became  evident 
to  the  bishop,  from  the  suits  and  trappings  of  the 
legates,  that  the  failure  of  the  Church  was  largely  due 
to  the  pomp  and  style  of  the  representatives.  He 
fortliTS'ith  advised  the  legates  to  endeavour  to  train  the 
hearts  of  the  people  through  the  practice  of  piety  and 
humility  and  earnest  preaching  of  the  gospel.  To 
give  an  example,  he  dismissed  his  retinue,  keeping  only 
Dominic  by  his  side,  and  resolved  to  remain,  that  he 
migrht  declare  the  faith  of  the  Church.  Innocent  was 
now  willing  to  sanction  his  absence  from  his  see,  in  the 
hope  that  something  might  be  done  to  overcome  the 
evil  menacing  the  Church.  Azevedo  accordingly  entered 
on  his  missionary  labours,  with  Dominic  as  his  assistant 
and  companion. 

During  the  reign  of  Innocent,  in  spite  of  papal 
supremacy, — in  consequence,  rather,  of  the  long  strife 
for  political  power, — heresy  was  widespread  in  England, 
France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Italy  itself.  The  heretics 
were  di\'ided  into  sects,  difi'ering  in  creed  and  worship, 
yet  united  in  their  opposition  to  the  Church.  The 
worldly  policy  of  Rome  made  her  heedless  of  the 
religious  wants  of  the  people,  and  the  spiritually 
destitute  turned  to  new  teachers  and  welcomed  the 
old  biblical  truths,  and  sometimes  fantastic  or  novel 
doctrines.  Reformers  within  the  Church  denounced 
its  worldliness:  heretics  outside  sought  its  destruction. 
The  scandalous  life  and  worldly  spirit  of  multitudes  of 
the  clergy,  in  spite  of  all  attempts  at  reform,  produced 
revolts  against  this  doctrine  or  that,  against  eccles- 
iastical authority,  and  against  ceremonies  performed 
by  discredited  priests.  Thus  Peter  de  Brueys,  who 
was  ultimately  burned  by  an  infuriated  clergy,  had  a 


84  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


following  who  believed  with  him  that  there  should  be 
no  infant  baptism ;  that  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence 
was  untrue ;  that  the  worship  of  the  cross,  the  venera- 
tion paid  to  churches,  and  prayers  for  the  dead,  should 
cease.  Peter  de  Brueys'  work  in  Languedoc  was  con- 
tinued by  Henry  the  Deacon,  and  Bernard  of  Clairvaux 
was  commissioned  to  counteract  him.  Bernard's  piety 
and  eloquence  were  destructive  of  heresy,  but  his  report 
of  the  condition  of  the  local  Church  was  disturbing 
information  for  Rome.  He  described  "  the  churches 
without  people,  the  people  without  priests,  the  priests 
without  respect,  the  Christians  without  Christ,  the 
churches  deemed  synagogues,  the  holy  places  of  God 
denied  to  be  holy,  the  sacraments  no  longer  sacred,  the 
holy  days  without  their  solemnities."  Peter  de  Brueys 
may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  men  who  denied  dogmas 
and  condemned  ceremonies,  without  at  the  same  time 
setting  forth  positive  doctrines  alien  to  Christianity. 

The  most  spiritual  of  the  opponents  of  the  Church 
were  the  Waldensians,  who,  according  to  an  anonymous 
writer  of  the  thirteenth  century,  were  the  forerunners 
of  the  Franciscans.  "There  arose,"  this  writer  says, 
"two  monastic  Orders  of  the  Church,  .  .  .  the  Fran- 
ciscans and  the  Dominicans,  which  were  approved  of, 
perhaps,  on  this  account :  because  two  sects  which  still 
exist  had  arisen  in  Italy,  one  of  which  called  itself  the 
Humiliati,  and  the  other  the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons.  .  .  . 
I  saw,  at  that  time,  some  of  their  number,  who  were 
called  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,  at  the  apostolic  see,  .  .  .  they 
were  trying  to  get  their  sect  confirmed  and  privileged. 
They  went  about  through  the  towns  and  villages  say- 
ing, forsooth,  that  they  lived  the  life  of  the  apostles, 
not  desiring  to  have  any  possessions  or  any  fixed 


ST.  DOMINIC 


85 


dwelling-place."  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons,  with  whose 
name  the  Waldensians  are  associated,  seeking  to  lead 
the  life  in  Christ,  distributed  his  goods  to  the  poor, 
and  began  to  preach  the  gospel.  Causing  a  translation 
of  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  and  also  of  "  Sentences  " 
from  the  Fathers,  to  be  made,  he  distributed  these  by 
the  hands  of  disciples  sent  out,  two  by  two,  to  teach 
and  to  preach.  Poverty  and  simplicity  of  religious 
ceremony  were  the  distinctive  marks  of  the  Walden- 
sians. They  did  not  spare  the  reputation  of  the  clergy, 
and  being  subjected  to  persecution,  appealed  to  Pope 
Alexander  ill.,  who  approved  their  poverty  but  con- 
demned them  for  preaching.  The  time  had  not  come 
for  sanctioning  an  irregular  ministry.  A  few  years 
later,  at  the  Council  of  Verona,  Pope  Lucius  iii.  ex- 
communicated them  as  heretics.  This  condemnation, 
however,  did  not  end  their  progress.  They  were 
charged  with  holding  that  the  authority  of  popes  and 
prelates  should  be  repudiated,  that  laj'^men  and  women 
could  preach,  that  masses  for  the  dead  were  useless, 
and  that  prayers  were  as  efficacious  in  a  private  room 
as  in  a  church.  These  Poor  Men  had  undoubtedly 
characteristics  which  were  reproduced  in  the  Minor- 
ites, and  Francis  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  their 
ways,  seeing  that  Assisi  was  no  isolated  village,  and 
Bernardine,  at  any  rate,  would  carry  home  the  news 
gathered  as  he  travelled  from  place  to  place. 

Dominic,  on  his  part,  was  probably  influenced  by 
them,  as  by  the  more  violent  sectaries,  to  make  use  of 
preaching  as  a  means  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the 
Church.  The  Waldensians,  like  the  Puritans  of  Ener- 
land,  were  earnest  men ;  but  their  religion  banished 
joy,  and  so  their  progress  was  limited. 


86 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


The  most  noted  sect  was  the  Cathari,  sometimes 
styled  Patarines  in  Italy,  known  as  Albigenses  in 
Languedoe.  Tinctured  with  Manichseism,  they  were 
hardly  to  be  called  Christians.  Such  as  they  were, 
they  marked  a  fierce  opposition  to  the  Church,  rather 
than  a  return  to  primitive  Christianity.  In  the 
seventh  century  Manichseism,  modified  into  Paulician- 
ism  through  St.  Paul's  teaching  regarding  sin,  was 
formulated  into  the  creed  of  an  Eastern  sect.  The 
Paulicians  multiplied  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  and, 
according  to  Gibbon,  "  shook  the  East  and  enlightened 
the  West."  Under  persecution  many  found  their  way 
to  Europe,  where  they  spread  their  doctrines.  After  a 
long  period  of  eventful  history  Paulicianism,  at  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century,  had  conquered  what  is 
now  Southern  France. 

In  creed,  ethic,  ritual,  and  ecclesiastical  government 
the  Cathari  were  opposed  to  the  Church.  They  made 
an  eternal  dualism  and  conflict  between  the  alleged 
coequal  principles  of  good  and  evil,  between  God  and 
Satan.  Satan  was  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  therefore  that  book  was  to  be  rejected.  The  New 
Testament  was  to  be  received,  though,  in  spite  of  its 
representations,  Christ  was  a  mere  phantasm.  In 
consequence  of  matter  being  essentially  evil,  marriage 
was  all  but  forbidden,  and  animal  food,  for  its  grossness, 
was  avoided.  Sacraments,  images,  crosses  found  no 
place  in  the  ritual,  while  a  new  ceremony,  the  Baptism 
of  the  Spirit,  removed  all  sin.  The  organisation  of 
the  sect  was  peculiar  to  itself.  From  among  the 
"  Perfect,"  a  spiritual  aristocracy,  four  classes  of  officers 
were  chosen  to  carry  on  the  government. 

The  Albigenses,  named  from  the  territory  of  the 


ST.  DOMINIC 


87 


Albigeois,  or,  more  generally,  the  Catliari,  were  pre- 
eminently the  heretics  in  the  eyes  of  Churchmen,  and 
even  of  the  Waldensians ;  and  Innocent,  in  his  day  of 
power,  determined  to  crush  them.  They  were  zealous 
in  their  missionary  efforts,  preaching  their  distinctive 
doctrines  and  inveighing  against  the  Church,  and  while 
the  pope  was  resolving  on  their  destruction,  Azevedo 
and  Dominic  opposed  them  with  the  orthodox  faith. 
As  early  as  1119  Calixtus  11.  condemned  the  Cathari 
as  heretics.  In  1139,  at  the  second  Lateran  Council, 
Innocent  it.  called  upon  the  temporal  powers  to  crush 
them ;  and  Pope  Alexander  iii.,  at  Tours  in  1163, 
ordered  all  prelates  to  anathematise  those  trafficking 
with  them,  and  required  secular  authorities  to  im- 
prison them,  confiscating  their  property.  At  the  third 
Lateran  Council  a  crusade  was  inauo^urated,  but  came 
to  nothing.  Shortly  after  Innocent  ill.  ascended  the 
papal  throne  active  measures  were  begun.  Legates, 
Peter  of  Castelnau  and  Raoul,  Cistercian  monks,  joined 
by  Arnold,  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  were  sent  to  Languedoc 
to  rouse  the  Churchmen  to  persecuting  zeal. 

Eager  to  uphold  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  having 
the  support  of  the  papal  power,  they  yet  failed  to  stir 
the  prelates,  who  were  content  to  draw  their  revenues ; 
and  the  story  of  the  Church's  weakness  would  have 
been  illustrated  once  more  had  not  the  legates  in 
1206  come  into  contact  with  Azevedo  and  Dominic. 
"  Heresy,"  said  Innocent,  in  spite  of  his  cruel  policy, 
"  can  only  be  destroyed  by  solid  instruction  ;  it  is  by 
preaching  the  truth  that  we  sap  the  foundations  of 
error."  Inspired  by  this  idea,  if  not  by  these  words, 
the  legates,  with  Azevedo  and  Dominic,  carried  on  public 
disputations,  preached  in  the  churches,  and  held  con- 


88  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


ferences  in  private  houses.  Zealous  in  work  and  per- 
sistent in  humility,  they  made  many  conversions. 
Dominic,  his  biographers  relate,  was  a  powerful 
preacher,  and  the  heretics,  counting  him  their  most 
dangerous  enemy,  threatened  his  life.  Miracles 
attended  his  manhood,  as  they  had  been  about  his 
youth.  The  heretics,  we  are  told  in  the  legend,  paid 
no  heed  to  the  Feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist;  and 
Dominic  threatened  a  sign  of  divine  anger  to  certain 
men  who  on  the  feast-day  were  working  in  a  field. 
When  one  of  them  would  have  made  an  attack  on  the 
preacher,  the  ears  of  corn  were  seen  to  be  filled  as 
with  blood.  Thereupon  the  men  fell  down  and  made 
confession  of  their  sin,  and  shortly  afterwards  were 
reconciled  to  the  Church.  Many  conventional  miracles, 
such  as  this,  were  attributed  to  Dominic,  but  they 
afford  no  indication  of  his  character. 

At  this  period  Dominic  took  the  important  step  of 
organising  at  Prouille  a  convent  for  women.  The 
heretics  had  established  religious  houses  in  which  they 
educated  the  daughters  of  nobles,  who  were  glad  to 
avail  themselves  of  instruction ;  and  Dominic,  after 
the  manner  of  these  men,  opened  the  house  at  Prouille, 
in  order  that  his  female  converts  might  be  freed  from 
temptation  to  heresy.  The  Archbishop  of  Narbonne 
and  the  Bishop  of  Toulouse,  to  whom  the  scheme  was 
made  known,  contributed  liberally  to  the  building  of 
the  convent;  and  in  1218  Honorius  iii.  recognised  this 
association  of  women  as  the  Second  Order  of  Dominic. 
The  members,  who  were  to  live  obedient  to  a  severe 
monastic  rule,  came  in  course  of  time  to  devote  them- 
selves chiefly  to  the  education  of  girls. 

The  preachers  who  laboured  among  the  heretics, 


ST.  DOMINIC 


89 


zealous  though  they  were,  found  themselves  unequal 
to  their  task.  With  papal  permission,  therefore,  they 
ordained  competent  men,  wherever  they  could  be 
found,  and  thus  was  associated,  not  an  Order,  but  a 
company  to  meet  heretical  with  orthodox  doctrine. 
While  many  of  the  Cathari  were  restored  to  the  faith, 
real  progress  was  slow,  since  the  charge  was  constantly 
preferred  that  clerics,  high  and  low,  were  everywhere 
disgracing  their  calling. 

What  mifjht  have  been  the  result  of  this  mission 
none  can  tell,  as  it  was  completely  overshadowed  by 
the  crusade  inaugurated  for  the  violent  suppression  of 
the  Albigenses.  The  legate,  Peter  of  Castelnau,  was 
murdered  in  1208,  and  Raymond,  Count  of  Toulouse, 
suspected  of  sympathy  with  the  Albigenses,  and 
inefficient,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Church,  as  a  destroyer 
of  heretics,  was  charged  with  complicity  in  the 
murder.  Innocent,  full  of  wrath,  did  not  lose  the 
opportunity  of  calling  on  the  faithful  to  avenge  the 
death  of  the  legate.  A  crusade  was  preached,  and 
not  in  vain.  Carnage  began,  and  the  victims  were 
numbered  by  tens  of  thousands.  The  king  of  France 
did  not  himself  become  a  soldier  of  the  Church,  but 
his  nobles,  and  among  these  Simon  de  Montfort,  led 
their  troops  against  the  enemies  of  their  religion. 
The  war  was  the  most  cruel  and  bloody  that  ever 
disgraced  the  Church ;  and  the  teaching  of  the 
merciful  Son  of  Mary  was  despised.  For  the  king 
of  France,  however,  the  crusade  was  more  than  the 
battle  of  the  Church :  it  was  a  long  campaign  which 
resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  vast  territories. 

Little  is  known  of  Dominic's  career  during  the  years 
of  the  crusade.    An  early  biographer  wrote:  "After 


90 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  return  of  the  Bishop  Diego  to  his  diocese  St. 
Dominic,  left  almost  alone  with  a  few  companions  who 
were  bound  to  him  by  no  vow,  during  ten  years  upheld 
the  Catholic  faith  in  different  parts  of  Narbonne, 
especially  at  Carcassonne  and  Fanjeaux.  He  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  the  salvation  of  souls  by  the 
ministry  of  preaching,  and  he  bore  with  a  great  heart 
a  multitude  of  affronts,  ignominies,  and  sufferings  for 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  Again,  it  is  told  how  on 
one  occasion  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  certain  men  who 
sought  to  kill  him.  Asked  afterwards  what  he  would 
have  done  had  they  attacked  him,  he  replied :  "  I  would 
have  prayed  you  not  to  take  my  life  at  a  single  blow, 
but  little  by  little,  cutting  off  each  member  of  my 
body,  one  by  one ;  and  when  you  had  done  that,  you 
should  have  plucked  out  my  eyes,  and  then  have  left 
me  so,  to  prolong  my  torments  and  gain  me  a  richer 
crown."  Fanatical  though  the  teller  of  this  story  was, 
he  illustrated  the  bravery  of  Dominic's  character,  which 
was  real ;  and  at  the  same  time  spoke  according  to  the 
common  belief,  that  through  much  physical  tribulation 
one  mio^ht  enter  into  the  kino-dom  of  heaven. 

Contemporary  documents  are  few  which  afford 
definite  information  regarding  the  first  years  of 
Dominic's  missionary  labour.  There  is  an  absolution 
of  1207  showino^,  from  the  sio^nature  with  the  addition 
prsedicator  minimus,  that  in  that  year  he  was  entitled 
to  sign  himself  a  preacher.  From  a  writing  of  1208, 
a  penance  for  one  of  the  Cathari  seeking  admission 
into  the  Church,  it  may  be  gathered  that  he  was  then 
at  work  among  the  heretics.  The  penance  required 
that  on  three  successive  Sundays  the  man  should  be 
scourged  by  a  priest,  that  he  should  fast  at  definite 


ST.  DOMINIC 


91 


times  from  various  foods,  hear  mass  and  recite  a  speci- 
fied number  of  prayers  daily,  be  chaste  in  conduct,  and 
wear  monastic  garments  decorated  with  the  cross. 
Another  document,  said  to  be  among  the  archives  of 
Carcassonne,  is  witnessed  by  "  Brother  Dominic,  Canon 
of  Osma  and  humble  preacher,"  and  bears  that  the  Bishop 
of  Cahors  in  1211  paid  homage  to  the  Count  de  Mont  fort. 

The  historians  of  the  Order  imply  that  the  victory 
of  the  Count  de  Montfort,  at  the  famous  battle  of 
Muret  in  1213,  was  due  to  the  prayers  of  Dominic; 
or,  as  others  say,  to  his  encouragement  of  the  soldiers 
by  holding  aloft  a  crucifix.  The  constant  tradition  is 
that  Dominic  was  with  the  crusaders ;  but  the  silence 
of  history  may  be  taken  as  proof  that  he  did  nothing 
extraordinary  throughout  the  time  when  the  heretics 
were  massacred  in-  multitudes. 

It  is  stated,  but  with  insufficient  evidence,  that 
thrice  during  this  period  Dominic  refused  episcopal 
office.  While  the  accounts  of  his  success  as  a  preacher 
are  exaggerated,  it  may  be  conjectured  from  what  is 
known  of  his  character  that  he  laboured  with  zeal, 
fasting  and  praying,  showing  humility  and  inflicting 
self -punishment,  and  using  the  noblest  m.eans,  as  then 
understood,  to  call  back  the  wanderers  to  the  fold. 
His  work  attracted  the  attention  of  Pierre  Cella,  a 
wealthy  citizen  of  Toulouse,  who  in  1214  presented 
a  house  for  use  as  a  school  for  the  education  of 
preachers.  For  the  support  of  this  house,  and  the 
purchase  of  books,  certain  tithes  were  designed  by 
the  local  bishop ;  and  when  Dominic  and  his  com- 
panions took  up  their  abode  in  it  an  important  step 
was  taken  towards  the  formation  of  the  Order. 

Some  of  the  older  historians  relate  that,  prior  to  the 


92  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


year  1214,  Dominic  founded  the  famous  office  of  the 
Inquisition,  and  became  the  first  inquisitor-general. 
The  ground  for  this  assertion  is  a  bull  of  Sixtus  v., 
which  refers  to  him  as  inquisitor  under  Innocent  ill. 
and  Honorius  iii.  His  character,  however,  does  not 
suggest  that  he  was  guilty  of  the  severity  which 
established  the  Inquisition.  Piety  wanders  in  strange 
directions,  and  zeal  for  the  Lord's  house  not  seldom 
eats  up  humaneness ;  yet  Dominic's  piety  would  not 
have  directed  him  to  the  slaughter  of  his  religious 
enemies,  if  some  of  the  alleged  miracles  indexed 
his  character.  These  miracles  displayed  a  pitiful 
and  humane  man,  and  were  in  fact  palpable  imita- 
tions of  the  Lord's.  Jordan,  his  early  biographer,  has 
no  mention  of  the  Inquisition.  When  summing 
up  Dominic's  work  among  the  heretics,  he  wrote : 
"  During  the  time  that  the  crusaders  were  in  the 
country  the  blessed  Dominic  continued  there,  diligently 
preaching  the  word  of  God,  until  the  death  of  the 
Count  de  Montfort."  The  Inquisition  was  certainly 
not  organised  till  after  the  death  of  Dominic;  and, 
during  the  period  of  his  missionary  labour  in  the 
south  of  France,  there  is  no  indication  that  Churchmen 
possessed  the  legal  power  of  ordaining  the  punish- 
ment of  torture  or  death.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  Dominic  had  a  title  belonging  to  bishops,  and 
granted  to  legates  and  special  commissioners,  to  assign 
ecclesiastical  punishment.  The  notoriety  gained  by  the 
Dominicans  in  connection  with  the  Inquisition  doubtless 
suggested  to  fanatical  chroniclers  that  Dominic  him- 
self earned  the  glory  of  destroying  enemies  of  the  faith. 

The  Bollandists  are  among  those  who  associate 
Dominic  with  the  Inquisition,  quoting  Thomas  Aquinas 


ST.  DOMINIC 


93 


as  justifying  the  burning  of  lieretics.  There  is,  how- 
ever, no  document  to  prove  that  he  ever  received  a 
commission  as  inquisitor ;  and  if  the  Lateran  Council 
in  1215  did  grant  such  a  commission,  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  by  that  year  his  labours  in  Languedoc 
were  almost  finished.  In  1217,  in  a  speech  at  Prouille, 
quoted  by  Lacordaire,  he  used  words  which,  while 
manifesting  pitiless  anger,  do  not  suggest  that  his 
own  labours  had  been  marked  by  violence.  "  For 
many  years,"  he  said,  "  I  have  spoken  to  you  w^ith 
tenderness,  with  prayers,  and  tears;  but  according 
to  the  proverb  of  my  country,  where  the  benediction 
has  no  effect,  the  rod  may  have  much.  Behold,  now, 
we  rouse  up  against  you  princes  and  prelates,  nations 
and  kingdoms !  Many  shall  perish  by  the  sword. 
The  land  shall  be  ravaged,  walls  thrown  down ; 
and  you,  alas !  reduced  to  slavery.  So  shall  the 
chastisement  do  that  which  the  blessing  and  w^hich 
mildness  could  not  do."  The  speech  gives  truth  to 
Dante's  characterisation — 

"Therein  the  zealous  lover  was  revealed 

Of  Christ's  true  faith,  the  athlete  consecrate, 
Kind  to  her  friends,  to  those  who  hate  her  steeled." 

According  to  the  legend,  Dominic,  appointed  inquis- 
itor-general in  Spain,  organised  the  punishment  of 
Jews  and  Moors  lapsing  from  the  Cliristian  faith 
into  which  they  had  been  forced,  and  w^atched  on 
one  occasion  the  burnin^r  of  three  hundred  victims. 
Leaving  Spain,  he  passed  to  Italy  by  Aragon  and 
France,  establishing  the  Inquisition  in  these  countries, 
and  commissioning  Conrad  of  Marburg  to  organise  it 
in  Germany. 


94 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Noticeable  in  the  history  of  Catholic  devotion  is 
the  introduction  of  the  rosary,  with  which  Dominic's 
name  has  been  associated.  Controversy  has  been 
busy  with  the  claim  made  for  the  saint.  There 
seems  sufficient  reason,  however,  to  trace  back  to 
his  institution  the  use  of  the  rosary  so  prevalent  in 
the  Order.  The  story  of  the  introduction  is  thus 
told  in  a  recent  biography :  "  We  read  that  when  he 
was  preaching  to  the  Albigenses,  St.  Dominic  at  first 
obtained  but  scanty  success ;  and  that  one  day,  com- 
plaining of  this  in  pious  prayer  to  our  Blessed  Lady, 
she  deigned  to  reply  to  him,  saying,  '  Wonder  not  that 
until  now  you  have  obtained  so  little  fruit  by  your 
labours ;  you  have  spent  them  on  a  barren  soil,  not 
yet  watered  with  the  dew  of  divine  grace.  When 
God  willed  to  renew  the  face  of  the  earth,  He  began 
by  sending  down  on  it  the  fertilising  rain  of  the  angelic 
salutation.  Therefore  preach  my  Psalter,  composed  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  angelic  salutations  and  fifteen 
Our  Fathers,  and  you  will  obtain  an  abundant 
harvest.' " 

Dominic  and  his  companions,  when  they  took  pos- 
session of  the  house  gifted  to  them  in  Toulouse, 
followed  the  Rule,  as  they  wore  the  habit,  of  canons 
regular.  His  purpose  was  to  found  an  Order  of 
preachers  who  should  be  trained  in  theology.  Learned 
though  he  himself  was,  after  long  study  in  his  early 
years,  he  did  not  become  the  teacher  of  his  companions, 
but  placed  them  under  a  theologian  lecturing  in 
Toulouse.  Further  support  was  given  by  De  Mont- 
fort,  who  bestowed  on  the  companions  the  revenues 
from  a  house  and  lands. 

Dominic's  determination  to  institute  an  Order  re- 


ST.  UOMINIC 


95 


quired  papal  .sanction,  and  that  sanction  he  resolved 
to  seek  in  1215,  when  the  Lateran  Council  was  sitting 
in  Rome.  Individuals  like  Arnold  of  Brescia,  and 
missionaries  like  the  Waldensians,  had  come  into 
direct  contact  with  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the 
people,  and  had  not  trusted  to  the  authority  of  an 
institution  or  the  mystic  influence  of  an  elaborate 
ritual.  The  Church,  on  the  other  hand,  amidst  the 
political  schemes  of  popes  and  the  worldly  interests 
of  priests,  had  left  unheeded  the  command  to  preach 
the  gospel.  Preaching  was  at  once  the  special  func- 
tion and  duty  of  the  bishops,  and  though  it  could  be 
delegated  they  seldom  preached  and  seldom  appointed 
others  to  the  duty.  In  the  periods  when  heresy  was 
rife,  the  prelates,  as  a  rule,  lived  as  temporal  princes, 
seeking  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  or  trying  to 
extend  its  glory  by  the  splendour  of  cathedrals  and 
abbeys.  Scandalous  living  had  soiled  the  reputation 
of  many,  and  the  best  were  filled  with  the  idea  of 
political  power.  They  had  little  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  people,  and  were  too  few,  even  had 
they  all  been  preachers,  to  fill  the  pulpits  of  Chris- 
tendom. The  parish  priests  were  performers  of  the 
ritual  devised  to  bring  the  truths  of  Christianity 
before  the  worshippers,  and  ignorant  performers  they 
too  often  were.  The  growth  of  the  sects  and  the 
spread  of  heresy  were  the  eloquent  witnesses  of  the 
neglect  of  duty ;  and  never  did  monk  or  priest  render 
service  to  the  Church  and  to  reli^on  more  siirnal  than 
that  of  Dominic  when  he  resolved  that  preaching 
should  not  be  left  to  heretics  and  sectarians. 

As  earlv  as  1031  the  Council  of  Limoires  had  decided 
that  preaching  should  not  be  confined  to  churches  where 


96 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  bishops  could  occasionally  officiate.  At  Avignon, 
in  1209,  when  heresy  was  rampant,  the  bishops  were 
instructed  to  be  diligent  in  preaching,  and  to  secure 
men  fit  to  be  instructors  of  religion ;  and  in  the 
Lateran  Council  of  1215,  before  the  significance  of 
Dominic's  scheme  was  apparent,  it  was  enacted  that 
the  bishops,  who  should  not  and  could  not  be  the  only 
preachers,  should  provide  men  competent  for  the  work. 
Thus  did  the  Church  recognise  the  need  of  preaching, 
but  it  did  nothing  to  educate  men  in  theology  or  train 
them  as  speakers.  Innocent  had  approved  the  plan  of 
Durand  of  Huesca,  who  instituted  the  Poor  Catholics, 
to  do  inside  the  Church  the  evangelising  work  which 
the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons  were  doing  outside.  Durand, 
who  had  been  a  Waldensian  leader,  was  brought  back 
to  the  Church  after  a  disputation  in  which  the  Bishop 
of  Osma,  and  probably  Dominic,  took  part.  Devoting 
himself  after  his  conversion  to  a  life  of  poverty, 
chastity,  and  severe  self -discipline,  he  gathered  round 
him  men  fitted  to  preach ;  but  sanctioned  though  it 
was  by  Innocent,  the  mission  did  not  commend  itself 
to  the  prelates  in  Southern  France,  who  looked  with 
disdain  on  zealots  intruding  into  their  province,  and 
charged  them  with  being  Waldensians  in  heart,  in 
spite  of  their  profession.  After  the  battle  of  Muret 
the  situation  was  altered,  and  Dominic  took  advantage 
of  the  change.  He  saw  that  the  Poor  Catholics  had 
a  true  conception  of  missionary  work,  and  if  he  did 
not  imitate  them,  he  and  his  Order  at  least  suc- 
ceeded them.  Filled  with  their  spirit  and  living  in 
their  simplicity,  he  went  further,  and  had  his  associates 
specially  trained  to  preach.  Orthodoxy  was  to  be 
armed  to  meet  heresy.    This  was  the  plan  of  Dominic, 


ST.  DOMINIC 


97 


but  it  interfered  with  au  episcopal  function,  and 
difficulties  had  to  be  removed  before  the  papal  sanction 
could  be  gained. 

Dominic  was  welcomed  in  Rome  by  the  pope  and 
prelates,  as  he  had  laboured  among  the  heretics  whose 
case  constituted  an  important  reason  for  holding 
the  Lateran  Council.  Yery  easily  he  obtained  a 
decree  for  placing  the  Convent  of  Prouille  under  the 
protection  of  the  papal  see.  The  sanction  of  a  new 
Order,  however,  was  not  to  be  had  for  the  asking. 
The  Council  had  issued  a  decree  against  the  founda- 
tion of  new  Orders ;  but  a  vision,  repeating  the  scene 
in  which  Francis  appeared,  show^ed  Innocent  the 
Lateran  Basilica  supported  by  a  man  whom  he 
recognised  as  Dominic.  The  vision  was  enough,  and 
the  crave  of  Dominic's  petition  was  granted,  w^ith  the 
limitation  that  he  and  his  friends,  while  pursuing 
their  special  plans,  should  ally  themselves  to  one  of 
the  existing  Orders.  Innocent  is  credited  with  sug- 
gesting the  name  Brothers  Preachers,  which  was  after- 
wards adopted.  To  carry  out  the  instruction,  Dominic 
chose  the  Rule  of  Augustine,  as  its  simplicity  allowed 
the  Preachers  to  pursue  the  object  for  which  they 
had  associated.  Besides,  Augustine  was  a  scholar,  and 
his  name  was  attractive  to  men  desirous  of  theoloofical 
learning.  Monastic  discipline,  with  its  fasting  and 
poverty,  was  to  be  practised,  and  regulations  were 
made  in  regard  to  study  and  the  government  of  the 
schools. 

The  Brothers  numbered  sixteen,  and,  strange  to  say, 
represented  the  nationalities  of   Castile,  Xormandy, 
France,  Languedoc,  England,  and  Germany.    An  abbot 
was  chosen,  the  first  and  only  one ;  and  then  the 
7 


98  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


organisation  was  changed,  and  provincial  friars,  with 
a  general-master,  were  appointed.  Very  early  in 
their  history,  in  1217,  the  Brothers  disputed  about 
certain  tithes.  This  dispute,  which  occurred  during 
Dominic's  absence,  did  not  imply  a  violation  of  the 
oath  of  poverty.  The  Brothers  Preachers  had  taken 
no  such  vow,  though  some  of  the  old  chroniclers 
would  have  us  believe  that  at  this  stage  certain 
properties,  which  the  friars  could  not  hold,  were 
transferred  to  the  nuns  of  Prouille. 

Having  chosen  the  Augustinian  Rule,  and  established 
the  Brothers  in  their  first  convent,  Dominic  set  out  for 
Rome,  to  present  himself  to  the  pope.  Before  he 
reached  the  city,  however,  he  learned  that  Innocent 
had  died  at  Perugia,  and  Honorius  ill.  now  sat  on  the 
papal  throne.  Honorius  adhered  to  the  policy  of  his 
predecessor,  and  granted  in  1216  a  bull  constituting 
the  Order  by  taking  it  under  the  protection  of 
St.  Peter  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  confirming  it  in 
its  lands,  churches,  and  revenues. 

A  shorter  bull  is  also  declared  by  the  Dominicans  to 
have  been  issued  at  the  same  time.  It  is  as  f ollow^s : 
"  Honorius,  Bishop,  .  .  .  we,  considering  that  the 
brethren  of  your  Order  will  be  the  champions  of  the 
faith  and  true  light  of  the  world,  do  confirm  the  Order 
in  all  its  lands  and  possessions  present  and  to  come ; 
and  we  take  the  Order  itself,  with  all  its  goods  and 
rights,  under  our  protection  and  government."  This 
bull,  with  its  praise  of  the  friars,  could  not  have  been 
granted  in  1216.  In  1296,  at  a  chapter  of  the  Order,  it 
was  ordained  that  it  should  be  borne  by  the  friars  in 
proof  of  their  mission,  and  probably  was  prepared  for 
this  purpose. 


ST.  DOMINIC 


99 


Domiuic  returned  to  Toulouse  in  1217,  and  at  once 
entrusted  special  work  to  the  Brothers,  so  that  they 
should  not  be  mere  recluses.  One  of  his  first  concerns 
was  to  choose  men  for  a  mission  to  Paris,  the  chief  seat 
of  theological  learning;  and  others  he  sent  to  Spain. 
In  subsequent  years  convents  were  established  in 
Oxford  and  Bologna,  noted  as  university  cities.  The 
house  in  Toulouse  was  left  almost  empty  when  the 
missions  were  organised,  though  spiritual  recruits  soon 
occupied  it,  and  in  turn  were  sent  forth  as  preachers. 
Dominic  himself  did  not  remain  in  Toulouse,  as  he  was 
anxious  to  establish  a  convent  in  Eome.  When  he 
arrived,  Honorius  welcomed  him,  bestowing  on  him  the 
use  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sixtus,  afterwards  the  centre 
of  the  first  Dominican  monastery  in  Rome.  The  church 
was  subsequently  transferred  to  the  nuns  of  Tra- 
stevere,  and  Dominic  took  possession  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Sabina,  attached  to  the  palace  of  the  Savelli,  to 
which  family  the  pope  belonged.  Success  crowned  his 
labours,  inasmuch  as  many  joined  him  as  friars,  and 
his  preaching  was  a  victorious  campaign.  At  this 
period  an  office  was  created  for  him.  In  the  papal 
palace  the  servants  of  the  cardinals  and  others  were  in 
the  habit  of  loiterinor  while  awaitinof  their  masters. 
To  these  servants  he  turned  his  attention,  suggesting 
to  the  pope  that  spiritual  instruction  should  be  given. 
Honorius  agreed,  appointing  him  Master  of  the  Sacred 
Palace,  and  giving  him  permission  not  only  to  preach 
to  the  loiterers,  but  also  to  deliver  fornial  lectures  to 
the  members  of  the  Court.  Thus  was  constituted  the 
office  of  Master  of  the  Palace,  which  has  continued 
to  be  filled  by  Dominicans. 

According  to  tradition,  a  Third  Order,  bearing  the 


lOO  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


name  of  Dominic,  was  at  this  time  established.  The 
members  of  the  First  Order  were  friars,  those  of  the 
Second  nuns,  while  the  Third  constituted  a  company 
for  the  defence  of  the  Church.  This  Militia  of  Jesus 
Christ,  thus  it  was  styled,  was  formed  when  the  Polish 
bishops,  in  1218,  appealed  to  Honorius  for  protection 
against  the  Prussians.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are 
assured  by  tradition  that  Dominic,  seeing  the 
Albigenses  appropriating  ecclesiastical  property,  had 
already  declared  in  favour  of  armed  protectors  of  the 
Church.  At  a  later  period,  when  force  was  no  longer 
needed  for  the  Church,  the  militia  was  changed  into 
the  Order  of  Penance  of  St.  Dominic,  and  women  were 
received  as  members.  Its  purpose  was  to  infuse  piety 
into  social  life,  to  practice  penance  and  charity,  and  to 
realise  monastic  ideals  amidst  the  business  of  the  day. 

Another  version  is  given  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Third  Order. 

In  1209  the  members  of  a  military  society,  the 
Militia  Christi,  attached  themselves  to  Dominic,  then 
labouring  among  the  Albigenses.  They  undertook  the 
defence  of  the  Church ;  and  women  were  associated, 
who  engaged  in  special  religious  exercises.  The  society 
increased,  spreading  as  far  as  to  Italy;  and  in  due 
time,  when  military  aid  to  the  Church  was  no  longer 
required,  it  became  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Dominic. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  beginning  of  that  Order, 
there  is  distinct  evidence  of  its  existence  about  the 
year  1230,  and  it  is  possible  that  it  may  have  been 
organised  in  imitation  of  the  Franciscan  association. 

Nicholas  iv.,  in  1289,  attempted  to  place  the 
Dominican  society  and  other  associations  of  a  like 
kind   under  the   superintendence  of  the  Minorites. 


ST.  DOMINIC 


lOI 


Doubtless  the  pope,  who  had  been  the  Franciscan 
minister-general,  hoped  to  increase  the  importance  of 
his  Order ;  but  the  Dominicans,  who  were  strong, 
would  not  countenance  the  scheme,  and  it  failed. 

Dominic,  having  carried  out  the  work  of  erecting  a 
convent  at  Rome,  was  not  forgetful  of  the  various 
settlements  which  had  been  elsewhere  established ; 
and,  like  a  father  mindful  of  his  sons,  went  to  Spain, 
the  south  of  France,  Paris,  and  Bologna.  The  new 
Order  had  justified  itself,  and  many  of  the  scholars  of 
the  universities  consequently  joined  it,  convinced  of 
the  need  of  the  Church  becoming:  a  teachinfj  institu- 
tion.  He  is  represented  as  having  planned  for  him- 
'self  a  mission  to  Africa.  Such  a  mission,  while 
it  may  have  been*  thought  necessary  by  biographers 
jealous  of  St.  Francis  with  his  journey  to  Egypt, 
was  not  according  to  Dominic's  first  aim,  to  attack 
heresy  at  home.  His  progress  from  place  to 
place  is  represented  by  his  biographers  as  a  con- 
spicuous success,  marked  by  many  conversions  and 
signal  miracles  ;  and  such  was  the  zeal  of  the  preacher, 
that  we  may  well  accept  the  story  of  the  conversions. 
"  He  preached,"  says  Jordan,  "  by  night  and  by  day  in 
houses,  in  the  fields,  and  by  the  roadside."  His  theme 
was  the  mysteries  of  the  rosary,  the  life  and  passion 
of  Christ,  Miracles  were  numerous,  and  of  all  kinds. 
By  the  application  of  a  little  mud  he  mended  the  torn 
garments  of  a  Franciscan  walking  with  him.  He 
promised  rain  when  a  long  drought  was  causing 
distress  in  the  district  of  Segovia,  and  before  his 
sermon  was  ended  there  was  a  plentiful  shower.  He 
foretold  the  death  of  an  insolent  councillor  who  spoke 
evil  of  him.    He  turned  water  into  wine,  as  his  Lord 


102  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


had  done.  In  a  fit  of  passion  he  killed  a  cock  which 
disturbed  him  at  his  study,  and  in  his  penitence  his 
fervent  prayer  restored  it  to  life.  He  was  able  to 
cure  a  woman  stricken  by  a  fever,  by  causing  her  to 
eat  a  portion  of  an  eel  over  which  the  sign  of  the  cross 
had  been  made. 

In  the  year  1220  the  first  chapter  of  the  Order  was 
held  at  Bologna,  a  fitting  place  of  meeting  for  a  learned 
Brotherhood.  An  important  resolution  was  taken  :  it 
was  determined  that  all  possessions  should  be 
renounced,  that  the  customs  of  poverty  should  be 
adopted,  and  all  property  not  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  use  of  the  Order  should  be  given  to  the  nuns  of 
Prouille.  The  Dominicans  in  their  first  years  had 
accepted  gifts,  and  in  1218  a  papal  recognition  of  their 
property  was  issued,  Dominic  himself  received  three 
churches  from  the  Bishop  of  Toulouse.  The  adoption 
of  the  principle  of  stern  poverty  was  made,  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt,  in  imitation  of  the  practice  of  the 
Franciscans.  It  is  unnecessary  to  suggest  any  rivalry, 
but  Dominic  was  not  ignorant  of  the  reverence  which 
Francis  was  inspiring,  and  was  wise  enough  to  see  that 
by  poverty  his  own  preachers  would  command  respect. 

The  friars  of  Toulouse  in  vain  objected  to  the 
innovation,  and  in  1228  the  resolutions  of  1220  were 
formally  included  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Order.  A 
change  in  the  habit  was  also  sanctioned  at  the  chapter 
of  1228.  At  first  the  dress  was  that  of  the  Canons 
Regular,  but  owing  to  a  vision  of  one  of  the  Brothers  a 
new  habit  was  adopted.  Brother  Reginald  was  sick, 
and  one  day  Dominic  prayed  earnestly  for  his  recovery. 
While  he  was  still  suffering,  the  Virgin  with  two  young 
maidens  of  surpassing  beauty  appeared  to  him,  and 


ST.  DOMINIC 


103 


Mary  said  :  "  Ask  me  what  thou  wilt,  and  I  will  give  it 
thee."  One  of  the  maidens  suo^ofested  that  he  should 
ask  nothing,  but  trust  to  the  pleasure  of  the  Virgin, 
who,  after  granting  certain  spiritual  blessings,  showed 
him  the  habit  of  the  Preachers,  saying :  "  Behold  the 
habit  of  thy  Order."  One  of  the  Dominican 
biographers  writes  :  "  After  the  heavenly  vision  afore- 
said, and  the  showing  of  the  habit,  the  blessed 
Dominic  and  the  other  brethren  laid  aside  the  use  of 
surplice,  and  took  in  its  place  as  a  distinctive  portion 
of  the  habit  the  white  scapular,  retaining  the  black 
mantle  which  they  wore  over  their  white  tunics  as 
Canons  Regular." 

After  the  meeting  of  the  chapter,  Dominic  journeyed 
through  Italy,  and  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings 
reached  Cremona,  where,  according  to  one  legend,  he 
met  Francis  and  Clara.  Another  leo^end  declares  that 
the  two  saints  met  in  Rome  in  1215,  but  the  evidence 
is  insufficient,  as  there  is  no  certaint}'  that  Francis 
was  in  Italy  in  that  year.  The  story  is  that  while 
Dominic  was  praying  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter  he 
saw  the  figure  of  Christ  holding  three  arrows,  with 
which  He  was  about  to  punish  the  world  for  its 
wickedness.  Mary  was  then  seen  to  present  two  men  to 
her  Son,  who  should  convert  sinners  and  appease  His 
wrath,  and  the  next  day  Dominic  recognised  Francis 
as  one  of  the  two  men  of  the  vision.  "  You  are  my 
comrade,"  he  said,  "  you  will  go  with  me  ;  let  us  keep 
together,  and  nothing  shall  prevail  against  us." 
According  to  a  Franciscan  account,  the  two  met  in 
Rome,  when  Dominic  persuaded  Francis  to  give  him 
his  cord  with  which  he  girded  himself,  sugorestintr  at 
the  same  time  that  their  religion  should  be  one,  and 


I04  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


that  there  should  be  union  between  them.  Francis 
would  not  listen  to  the  suggestion ;  he  would  continue 
in  his-  poverty  and  his  freedom. 

At  Cremona,  as  related  in  the  Dominican  legend,  the 
two  saints  lodged  together,  and  water  was  brought 
from  a  well  which  had  become  unfit  for  use.  They 
were  asked  to  bless  it,  and  there  was  a  contest  which 
should  yield  to  the  other.  The  modesty  of  Francis 
prevailed,  and  Dominic  gave  the  blessing.  In  the 
Little  Flowers  it  is  related  that  Dominic  was  present 
at  the  meeting  known  as  the  "  Chapter  of  the  Trellises." 
Francis  commanded  the  Brothers  to  take  no  thought 
of  the  needs  of  the  body,  but  to  trust  for  everything 
to  God.  There  were  some  thousands  in  attendance, 
and  yet  the  people  of  the  surrounding  cities  supplied 
all  their  wants,  inspired  by  the  "  Chief  Shepherd, 
Christ,  the  Blessed  One."  Dominic,  who  at  first  thought 
Francis  indiscreet,  witnessed  all  that  happened,  and 
was  moved  to  make  this  confession:  "Of  a  truth 
God  hath  especial  care  of  these  holy  poor  little  ones, 
and  I  knew  it  not ;  and  from  now  henceforth  I  promise 
to  observe  the  holy  gospel  poverty ;  and  in  the  name 
of  God  I  curse  all  the  Brothers  of  my  Order  who  in 
the  said  Order  shall  presume  to  hold  property."  This 
legend  has  evidently  grown  out  of  the  fact  that  the 
Dominicans  in  their  chapter  of  1220  adopted  the 
custom  of  absolute  poverty. 

The  fatigues,  vigils,  and  fastings  of  a  busy  life  wore 
out  the  strength  of  a  man  who  thought  it  impious  to 
pay  heed  to  his  body,  and  in  1221,  in  the  fifty -first 
year  of  his  age,  Dominic  died.  He  had  walked  from 
Venice  to  Bologna,  careless  of  the  heat  of  an  August 
sun,  and  with  strength  failing  through  the  poison  of 


ST.  DOMINIC 


105 


fever  he  entered  the  Convent  of  St.  Nicholas.  There 
he  refused  the  comfort  of  a  bed,  and  lay  on  matting 
on  the  floor.  The  Brothers  gathered  around  him  he 
addressed,  saying :  "  Have  charity,  guard  humility, 
and  make  you  treasure  out  of  voluntary  poverty." 
Hoping  to  save  him,  some  of  them  carried  him  to  a 
house  on  a  hill  outside  the  city ;  but  nothing  could  be 
done,  beyond  the  administration  of  the  last  rites  of  his 
religion.  He  wished  to  be  buried  beside  his  Brothers. 
"  God  forbid,"  he  said,  "  that  I  should  be  buried  any- 
where save  under  the  feet  of  my  brethren."  According 
to  another  version,  he  died  in  the  bed  of  one  of  the 
friars,  as  he  had  no  bed  of  his  own,  and  he  was  dressed 
in  a  gown  which  he  had  borrowed. 

Cardinal  Ugolini  performed  the  burial  service,  in 
the  Church  of  St,  .Nicholas,  Bologna,  and  wrote  this 
epitaph  over  the  tomb — 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  the  venerable  servant  of  God, 
Dominic  de  Guzman,  born  at  Calaruega  in  Spain,  in 
the  diocese  of  Osma;  founder  of  the  Order  of  Friars 
Preachers,  of  which  he  was  made  first  master-general 
by  Honorius  ill.,  and  confirmed  in  that  dignity  by  the 
suffrages  of  his  brethren,  in  the  chapters  held  here  in 
Bologna  in  1220  and  1221.  On  the  30th  of  May  of 
the  latter  year  he  was  declared  a  citizen  of  Bologna, 
together  with  all  others  who  should  succeed  him  as 
master-general  of  the  Order.  He  slept  in  our  Lord 
at  noon  on  Friday,  August  6, 1221,  under  the  pontificate 
of  Honorius  iii.,  and  I,  Ugolini,  Cardinal  Bishop  of 
Ostia,  and  Apostolic  Legate,  after  having  celebrated 
his  obsequies,  have  herewith  by  our  hands  placed  his 
venerable  body.  May  the  name  of  the  Lord  be  praised 
for  ever ! " 


io6  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Signs  of  divine  approbation  were  said  not  to  be 
wanting.  At  a  translation  of  the  body,  when  the 
coffin  was  opened  those  standing  near  declared  they 
were  conscious  of  an  exquisite  odour.  Three  hundred 
years  after  the  first  translation,  a  writer  declared, 
"this  divine  odour  adheres  to  the  relics  even  to  the 
present  day."  There  is  one  legend,  obviously  an  imita- 
tion of  the  story  of  Francis,  that  in  a  grotto  in 
Segovia,  Dominic  received  the  stigmata. 

Chroniclers  of  the  Order  tell  that  one  of  the  friars 
saw  the  Saviour  and  the  Virgin  drawing  up  a  golden 
ladder  which  had  been  let  down  from  heaven.  On  the 
ladder  was  a  man,  with  face  hidden  by  his  cowl,  who 
in  this  fashion  was  being  raised  from  the  earth.  The 
hour  of  the  friar's  vision  was  the  hour  of  Dominic's 
death. 

Dominic's  habits  of  pious  life,  according  to  his  bio- 
graphers, were  severe  to  the  last  degree.  He  kept  an 
almost  continual  fast,  wore  the  poorest  raiment,  and 
never  slept  in  a  bed,  but  lay  on  the  bare  ground  or  on  a 
plank.  Little  time  was  given  to  sleep,  and  hours  taken 
from  sleep  were  spent  before  the  altar,  where  he  would 
offer  w^ith  his  prayers  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  blood, 
scourged  from  his  body. 

Dominic  founded  his  Order  and  lived  to  see  its 
success.  At  the  date  of  the  second  chapter,  four  years 
after  the  first  mission  had  been  sent  out,  sixty  convents 
had  been  established  in  the  provinces  of  Spain,  Pro- 
vence, France,  England,  Germany,  Hungary,  Lombardy, 
Romagnuola.  Great  though  the  work  of  the  founder 
had  been,  he  was  not  immediately  canonised.  The 
canonisation  of  Francis  and  Antony  of  Padua,  in  each 
case,  took  place  within  two  years  after  the  death.  Yet 


ST.  DOMINIC 


107 


thirteen  years  passed  before  the  Church  paid  its  highest 
tribute  to  the  work  of  Domiuic ;  and  it  has  been 
argued  that  there  is  proof  in  this  that  his  influence  on 
his  contemporaries  was  not  the  strongest.  Apart  from 
saintship,  he  deserves  honour.  In  an  age  when  the 
people  were  ignorant  of  the  Bible,  w^hen  the  priests  of 
the  Church  were  dumb,  he  trained  men  to  preach,  and 
he  himself  preached,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Though 
honour  was  slow  to  crown  him  after  his  death,  super- 
stition and  reverence  together  were  ultimately  to  pay 
adoration  to  his  name.  His  mother  was  recognised  as 
a  saint,  and  in  1320  a  prince  of  Castile  obtained  her 
body  to  increase  the  sanctity  of  a  Dominican  convent 
which  he  had  founded.  The  remains  of  his  father 
had  to  be  concealed  from  the  adoration  of  admirers  of 
the  saint,  who  prized  as  holy  everything  related  to 
him.  So  great  was  the  veneration  attaching  to  his 
name,  that  the  font  in  which  he  was  baptized  was 
preserved  and  ultimately  taken  to  the  Dominican 
Convent  of  Madrid,  where  it  continued  to  be  used  at 
the  baptisms  of  the  royal  infants. 

In  the  work  of  Dominic  there  was  no  originality, 
and  he,  earnest  indeed  to  the  last  degree,  was  no  self- 
reliant  personality  eager  for  an  unconventional  ideal. 
His  ardent  faith  in  the  moral  value  of  obedience  made 
him  useful  to  the  Roman  Curia,  and  he  was  able  to 
prove  himself  a  faithful  servant  by  accepting  the 
Augustinian  Rule.  Innocent,  it  is  true,  had  little 
opportunity  of  knowing  his  character,  but  Honorius, 
probably  at  the  instigation  of  Ugolini.  took  care  to 
attach  him  to  the  papal  Court. 

There  was  no  magnetic  power  of  love  in  Dominic 
to  draw  men  to  him,  even  while  zeal  and  goodness 


io8  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


directed  his  labours.  He  lacked  the  one  thing  needful, 
whatever  it  was,  which  Francis  had,  to  make  captive 
the  heart.  Yet  the  biographers,  doubtless  moved  by 
the  stories  of  Francis,  have  endeavoured  to  prove  him 
like  unto  Christ.  A  recent  biography  illustrates  the 
attempt  to  mark  a  physical  resemblance  between  him 
and  the  Saviour :  "  Although  several  so-called  portraits 
are  preserved,  yet  none  of  them  can  be  regarded  as 
the  vera  effigies  of  the  saint,  though  that  preserved 
at  Santa  Sabina  probably  presents  us  with  a  kind  of 
traditionary  likeness.  If  we  compare  this  with  the 
engraved  gem  which  professes  to  be  the  true  portrait 
of  Jesus  Christ  a  certain  resemblance  may  be  traced 
between  them,  especially  in  the  straight  line  of  the 
nose  and  forehead,  which,  according  to  the  rules  of 
Greek  art,  was  deemed  to  belong  to  the  highest  type 
of  humanity." 

That  which  has  been  specially  imitated,  however,  in 
the  biographies  of  the  saint  is  the  miraculous  power 
of  Christ.  Sinlessness,  constant  prayer,  unwearied 
vigils,  degradation  of  the  body,  have  been  ascribed  to 
a  multitude  of  saints,  but  to  this  man,  in  special 
manner,  have  been  assigned  wonders  after  the  pattern 
of  the  New  Testament  miracles.  Signs  were  given  to 
show  that  God  was  on  his  side,  that  heaven  and  earth 
ministered  to  his  necessities ;  yet  the  characteristic  of 
his  legend  is  the  imitation  of  the  deeds  peculiar  to 
Christ. 

At  Boloo^na  on  one  occasion  bread  was  scarce  for  the 
Brothers,  and  after  the  saint  had  raised  his  eyes  and 
his  heart  to  heaven  there  appeared  two  beautiful 
youths  with  baskets  of  the  whitest  loaves,  which  they 
distributed.     On  another  occasion,  when  he  had  no 


ST.  DOMINIC 


109 


money  to  pay  his  fare  for  crossing  a  river,  he  prayed, 
and  instantly  there  was  a  coin  at  his  feet.  As  the 
Lord  had  increased  bread  for  the  multitude,  so  did 
Dominic  cut  two  small  loaves  in  pieces  for  a  large 
number  of  Brothers,  and  the  morsels  were  more  than 
enough  for  their  wants.  Wine,  too,  was  supplied  in  a 
vessel,  in  which  before  his  prayer  there  had  not  been 
a  drop.  A  youth  who  fell  from  a  roof  and  was  killed 
was  restored  to  life,  and  this  youth's  mother  being 
sick  of  a  fever  was  healed.  Three  Sisters  in  a  convent, 
whom  he  did  not  see,  he  ordered  to  be  cured,  and  at 
the  command  they  rose  in  perfect  health. 

By  miracles  such  as  these  his  biographers  have  tried 
to  show  his  likeness  to  Christ.  Had  he  been  the  stern 
suppressor  of  heretics,  their  violent  destroyer,  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  the  wonders  would  have  taken 
another  form;  and  though  we  reject  one  and  all  of 
the  supernatural  deeds  attributed  to  him,  we  may 
surmise  from  their  record  that  he  was  not  a  violent 
inquisitor,  even  though  we  dare  not  say  that  he  had 
in  special  degree  the  loving-kindness  of  Christ. 

The  Franciscan  extravagance  of  sentiment  which 
produced  the  Book  of  Conformities  had  a  parallel  in 
the  fanaticism  which  made  Dominic  one  with  Christ. 
The  Dominican  wdio  wrote  the  life  of  Catharine  of 
Siena  represented  the  Eternal  as  producing  Christ 
from  His  head  and  Dominic  from  His  breast,  and  as 
declaring  the  equality  of  the  two. 

It  is  not  Dominic's  character  that  has  impressed 
itself  on  history :  it  is  his  policy  which  has  caused  his 
influence  to  live.  He  was  not  the  lirst  to  suoforest  that 
the  Church  should  send  out  preachers  to  oppose  heresy  ; 
but  it  was  he  who  saw  that  men,  skilled  in  debate, 


no  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


equipped  with  knowledge  as  well  as  furnished  with 
enthusiasm,  and  ready  to  be  obedient  to  ecclesiastical 
rule,  were  the  men  to  serve  the  Church  from  the  attacks 
of  heretics.  And  not  merely  did  he  seize  an  idea, 
propound  a  scheme ;  he  had  the  genius  for  organising, 
and.  true  to  his  idea  of  a  learned  ministry,  gathered 
men  around  him  for  study,  arranged  for  the  education 
of  others,  and  sent  his  disciples  or  scholars  forth  into 
the  world.  It  is  impossible  that  without  persuasive 
and  convincing  powers  of  some  kind  he  could  have 
attracted  men  to  his  Order ;  but  the  scheme  which  he 
set  forth  was  precisely  that  to  commend  itself  to 
intellectual  and  spiritual  men  anxious  for  the  great 
institution  of  the  Church  which  to  their  thinkino^  was 
divinely  built.  The  scheme  was  destined  to  aifect  the 
whole  later  medieval  religious  movement ;  and  though 
the  Dominicans,  especially  through  their  connection  with 
the  Inquisition,  acquired  a  reputation  which  was  not 
altogether  one  of  holiness,  yet  the  founder  of  the  Order 
was  wise  when  he  taught  that  heresy  must  be  met 
with  learning  and  educated  wisdom,  and  strong  when 
he  organised  a  company  of  men  trained  in  theology 
and  sent  them  forth  to  meet  the  critics  and  enemies  of 
the  Church. 


CHAPTER  V 


Progress  of  the  Orders 

"  Silent  and  soft  is  poverty's  step,"  sang  Giacopone 
di  Todi.  The  rise  of  the  mendicants  marked  a  religious 
revival,  and  inaugurated  a  mission  which  extended  the 
bounds  of  the  Church.     The  founders  of  monastic' 
Orders  had  retired  with  pious  companions  from  the 
world,  and  excluded  themselves  from  the  life  of  the! 
people.     Francis  and  Dominic  sought  to  free  them-j 
selves  from  worldly  cares  and  pleasures  alike,  when'^ 
they  embraced  poverty ;  but  recognising  the  need  of  ' 
a  mission  to  the  spiritually  destitute,  sent  their  friars 
into  the  villages  and  cities.    Religion  was  popularised, ' 
and  passed  beyond  the  confines  of  the  cloister.  The 
object  was  the  same,  to  create  and  foster  piety  in  the 
individual,  but  the  method  and  sphere  of  the  two 
saints  were  different.    Francis  turned  to  the  poor  and 
unlettered,  to  whom  he  determined  the  gospel  should 
be  preached,  not  by  learned  but  by  pious  men.  Dominic 
trained  his  friars  in  theology,  preparing  them  for  ser- 
vice among  the  richer  and  more  intelligent  classes,  and 
fixing  his  principal  houses  in  the  university  cities.  The 
rise  of  the  mendicants  was,  says  Baur,  "  the  practical ! 
declaration  that  even  the  monks  had  not  acquitted, 
themselves  of  their  task  until,  while  remaining  true  ' 

to  their  fundamental  positions,  they  had  ceased  to  live  < 

111 


I  I  2 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


for  themselves,  and  after  the  manner  of  the  apostles 
had  striven  to  labour  in  the  world  for  the  purposes  of 
the  Gospel."  The  Benedictines,  to  take  an  example, 
were  wealthy,  cultured,  exclusive,  with  no  neighbours  to 
tend.  They  looked  first  to  their  own  spiritual  welfare, 
and  sought  through  contemplation  to  reach  God,  through 
asceticism  ordered  and  limited  to  merit  salvation.  Such 
service  as  was  done  was  rendered  to  the  Church  and 
her  priests  and  friends.  The  Cistercians,  to  take  another 
example,  when  reformation  had  restored  purity  and 
quickened  piety,  indulged  in  contemplation  of  the  life 
of  Christ,  but  restricted  their  imitation  to  the  convent. 
Bernard,  indeed,  went  forth  into  the  world  to  preach  a 
crusade,  to  attack  a  heretic,  to  direct  a  pope,  but  re- 
turned to  the  solitude  of  Clairvaux,  where  his  religion 
was  as  strait  as  his  cell.  The  mendicant  like  the  monk 
pursued  contemplation  as  a  business  of  the  soul,  but 
contemplation  led  him  to  activity  in  imitation  of  Christ. 
Asceticism,  too,  was  not  altogether  excluded.    But  no 

,  cloister  seclusion  was  to  impede  the  mission  to  sinners. 

I  Thus  did  the  friar  widen  the  sphere  of  the  piety  of 
the  monk,  passing  bej^ond  the  monastery  to  serve  his 
neighbour,  to  seek  the  lost  that  he  might  be  saved ; 
and  thus  did  imitation  of  Christ  attain  a  richer  mean- 
ing. The  friar,  too,  taught  the  laymen  that  they  also 
had  a  mission  to  men  and  women  around  them,  even 
while  they  heeded  the  things  of  their  own  souls ;  and 
so  the  kingdom  of  God  was  advanced. 

Hallam  expressed  an  uninformed  opinion  of  his  day 
when  he  wrote :  "  These  great  reformers,  who  have 
produced  so  extraordinary  an  effect  upon  mankind, 
were  of  very  different  characters :  the  one,  active  and 
ferocious,  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  crusade 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  113 


against  the  unfortunate  Albigeois,  and  was  among  the 
first  who  bore  the  terrible  name  of  inquisitor ;  whilst 
the  other,  a  harmless  enthusiast,  pious  and  sincere,  but 
hardly  of  sane  mind,  was  much  rather  accessory  to  the 
intellectual  than  to  the  moral  degradation  of  his 
species."  Ferocious  misrepresents  the  character  of  the 
man  who  laboured  for  the  welfare  of  the  Albigeois 
before  the  crusade  was  inaugurated,  and  who  still 
laboured  during  the  crusade,  preaching  the  love  of 
God  and  salvation  through  His  Son.  Francis  was  not 
mad.  Bonaventura  wrote  :  "  Who  can  form  a  concep- 
tion of  the  fervour  and  the  love  of  Francis,  the  friend 
of  Christ  ?  You  would  have  said  that  he  was  burned 
up  by  divine  love,  like  charcoal  in  the  liames."  But 
Bonaventura  was  a  Franciscan  and  medieval.  A  modern 
English  writer,  a  master  of  criticism,  free  from  religious 
enthusiasms,  has  spoken  of  the  "  profound  popular  in- 
stinct which  enabled  Francis,  more  than  any  man  since 
^he  primitive  age,  to  fit  religion  for  popular  use.  He 
brought  religion  to  the  people.  He  founded  the  most 
popular  body  of  ministers  of  religion  that  has  ever 
existed  in  the  Church.  He  tranformed  monachism 
by  uprooting  the  stationary  monk,  delix  ering  him  from 
the  bondage  of  property,  and  sending  him,  as  a  mendi- 
cant friar,  to  be  a  stranger  and  sojourner,  not  in  the 
wilderness,  but  in  the  most  crowded  haunts  of  men,  to 
console  them  and  do  them  good.  The  popular  instinct 
of  his  is  at  the  bottom  of  his  famous  marriafre  witli 
poverty.  Poverty  and  suffering  are  the  condition  of 
the  people,  the  multitude,  the  immense  majority  of 
mankind ;  and  it  was  towards  this  i^eople  that  his  soul 
yearned.  "  He  listens,"  it  was  said,  "  to  those  to  whom 
God  Himself  will  not  listen." 
8 


114  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Machiavelli,  living  amidst  intellectual  and  spiritual 
influences  very  different  from  those  around  Matthew 
Arnold,  declared  in  one  of  his  discourses  that  Chris- 
tianity would  have  been  almost  extinct  "  if  Francis 
and  Dominic  had  not  renewed  it  and  replaced  it  in 
the  heart  of  men  by  poverty  and  the  example  of 
Jesus  Christ.  They  saved  religion,  which  the  Church 
had  destroyed." 

Francis  saw,  as  clearly  as  Dominic,  that  a  remedy 
was  needed  for  the  malady  attacking  religion;  and 
though  he  had  no  plan  for  refuting  heresy,  he  sought 

'  to  overcome  worldliness  and  sin  by  inducing  men  to 
live  in  imitation  of  Christ.  Filled  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  he  went  to  people  such  as  those  who  heard 

,  Christ  gladly,  and  they  received  him  with  joy.  In 
the  noble  sense  he  was  a  popular  preacher,  proclaim- 
ing a  gospel  for  the  poor  and  desolate,  for  the  simple 
and  unlettered ;  and  while  he  taught,  he  did  what  he 
would  have  others  do.  Dominic  was  a  preacher  of  a 
different  kind,  from  character  and  training.  Men,  too, 
listened  to  him,  and  religion  was  quickened. 

Many  of  the  Franciscans,  especially  in  the  early 
years  of  the  Order,  were  unlettered,  yet  filled  with  an 
enthusiasm  which  captivated  the  poor,  among  whom 
they  laboured.  Formality  was  banished  from  their 
religious  services,  and  in  their  simplicity  they  carried 
horns  to  summon  the  people  to  worship.  The  Do- 
minicans, on  the  other  hand,  were  generally  associated 
with  churches,  and  followed  the  recognised  ritual. 
They  furnished  the  most  noted  preachers  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  the  extent  of  their  influence 
is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  in  1273  there  were  sixty 
preachers  in  Paris,  of  whom  thirty  were  Dominicans. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  115 


In  the  revival  inspired  by  the  two  Orders,  religion 
was  brouirht  home  to  the  hearts  of  individual  men 
and  women  ;  and  labouring,  as  the  friars  did,  under 
the  authority  of  the  pope,  they  fostered  the  interest 
of  their  hearers,  not  in  priests  or  bishops,  but  in  the 
Church  of  which  the  Roman  Bishop  claimed  to  be  the 
head,  so  that  it  became  to  them  as  the  visible  kingdom 
of  God.  It  was  of  no  mean  advantage  to  the  cause  of 
religion  in  the  thirteenth  century  that  seekers  for 
truth  were  not  bereft  of  their  faith  in  the  Church. 
To  these  it  stood  as  an  institution  worthy  of  honour, 
and  the  pope  was  revered  as  the  true  vicar  of  Christ 
when  he  commissioned  the  mendicants  to  go  to  men 
and  women  and  tell  them  of  the  love  of  God  and  the 
mercy  of  Christ.  Apostles  in  earlier  centuries  had 
consecrated  their  labours  to  the  conversion  of  the  Jew 
and  the  Gentile  ;  but  it  was  a  new  thing  within  Chris- 
tendom itself  for  missionaries  to  seek  the  lost  and 
bring  them  to  Christ.  The  mendicants,  indeed,  saved 
the  Church  from  destruction  following  in  the  train 
of  worldly  policy,  and  spared  Christendom  a  revolu- 
tion for  which  it  was  not  prepared.  Rome  was  not 
yet  ready  to  depart  from  that  policy,  and  Boniface 
VIII.  was  to  come.  Political  supremacy  was  not, 
however,  the  one  sole  plan  of  the  Church  in  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  evangelistic 
work  was  added  to  ecclesiastical  business.  But  apart" 
from  institutions  and  policies,  it  is  of  outstanding 
importance  in  the  history  of  Christianity  that  the 
mendicants  helped  men  to  know  themselves  responsil)le 
to  God,  and  to  recognise  themselves  as  more  than  parts 
of  a  society  finding  God  through  ritual  alone. 

In  the  dreams  of  Francis,  it  is  said,  was  the  \  ision  of 


ii6 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


a  brotherhood  with  members  from  all  nations ;  but  a 
powerful  Order,  dominated  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  was 
not  among  his  ideals.  One  morning,  the  Three 
Companions  relate,  he  called  the  small  fraternity 
together,  saying :  "  Take  courage,  and  shelter  your- 
selves in  God.  Be  not  depressed  to  think  how  few  we 
are.  Be  not  alarmed  either  at  your  own  weakness  or 
at  mine.  God  has  revealed  to  me  that  He  will  diffuse 
through  the  earth  this  our  little  family,  of  which  He  is 
Himself  the  Father.  I  would  have  concealed  what  I 
have  seen,  but  love  constrains  me  to  impart  it  to  you. 
I  have  seen  a  great  multitude  coming  to  us,  to  wear 
our  dress,  to  live  as  we  do.  I  have  seen  all  the  roads 
crowded  with  men  travelling  in  eager  haste  towards 
us.  The  French  are  coming.  The  Spaniards  are  has- 
tening. The  English  and  the  Germans  are  running. 
All  nations  are  mingling  together.  I  hear  the  tread  of 
the  numbers  who  go  and  come  to  execute  the  commands 
of  holy  obedience.  .  .  .  We  seem  contemptible  and  in- 
sane. But  fear  not.  Believe  that  our  Saviour,  Who 
has  overcome  the  world,  will  speak  effectually  in  us. 
If  gold  should  lie  in  our  way,  let  us  value  it  as  the 
dust  beneath  our  feet.  We  will  not,  however,  condemn 
or  despise  the  rich  who  live  softly  and  are  arrayed 
sumptuously.  God,  who  is  our  Master,  is  theirs  also. 
But  go  and  preach  repentance  for  the  remission  of 
sins.  Faithful  men,  gentle  and  full  of  charity,  will 
receive  you  and  your  words  with  joy.  Proud  and 
impious  men  will  condemn  and  oppose  you.  Settle  it 
in  your  hearts  to  endure  all  things  with  meekness  and 
patience.  The  wise  and  the  noble  will  soon  join 
themselves  to  you,  and,  with  you,  will  preach  to 
kings,  to   princes,   and   to   nations.    Be  patient  in 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  117 


tribulation,  fervent  in  prayer,  fearless  in  labour,  and 
the  kingdom  of  God,  which  endures  for  ever,  shall  be 
your  reward." 

Dominic,  unlike  Francis,  organised  an  Order,  placing 
it  under  papal  control,  and  though  it  was  to  see 
corruption  it  fulfilled  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
established.  Dante  paid  honour  to  the  names  of  the 
founders  of  the  two  sfreat  mendicant  Orders,  not  with 
prejudice,  since  elsewhere  he  showed  the  degradation 
of  the  friars — 

"  Her,  for  her  good,  with  two  high  chiefs  endowed, 
That  they  on  either  side  her  guides  might  be. 
The  soul  of  one  with  love  seraphic  glowed  ; 
The  other  by  his  wisdom  on  our  earth 
A  splendour  of  cherubic  glory  showed." 

The  bulls  of  Sixtus  iv.,  issued  in  1474  and  1479, 
marked  the  climax  of  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
Orders,  which  were  spoken  of  as  the  two  rivers 
flowing  from  Paradise,  and  as  seraphim  raised  on 
wings  of  heavenly  contemplation  above  all  earthly 
things.  Undoubtedly  the  purposes  of  Francis  and 
Dominic  attracted  the  greatest  men  of  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  among  whom  were  Alex- 
ander Hales,  Albertus  Magnus,  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Roger  Bacon,  and  Duns  Scotus. 

The  missionary  labours,  the  chief  glory  of  the 
mendicants,  were  not  confined  within  the  pale  of 
the  Church.  Dominic  himself,  it  is  said,  desired  to  go 
to  Persia,  and  though  he  did  not  pass  out  of  Europe, 
he  inspired  his  followers  with  a  zeal  which  carried 
them  to  distant  lands.  After  the  death  of  the  saint 
the  Dominicans  met  in  Paris  in  1222,  and  elected  as 


Ii8 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


his  successor  Jordan  of  Saxony,  who,  in  his  short 
reign,  extended  the  sphere  and  influence  of  the 
Brotherhood.  Friars  were  sent  to  Germany,  Venice, 
Poland,  and  Denmark,  where  houses  were  erected,  and 
also  to  the  Holy  Land.  Jordan  himself  was  in  the 
habit  of  spending  his  Lent  alternately  at  Bologna  and 
Paris,  and  of  visiting  other  university  cities,  among 
these  Oxford;  and  at  each  place  he  preached  to 
the  students,  and  sought  to  induce  masters  and 
bachelors  to  join  the  Brotherhood.  While  he 
endeavoured  to  increase  the  austerities  in  the  daily 
life  of  the  friars,  his  reign  was  marked  by  evangelistic 
zeal  rather  than  by  asceticism,  and  he  himself  perished 
with  some  of  his  companions  in  an  expedition  to 
Palestine.  In  1225  there  was  a  mission  of  the 
Dominicans,  as  there  was  already  one  of  the 
Franciscans,  in  Morocco ;  and  at  the  same  period 
important  work  was  done  among  the  Nestorians  and 
other  Eastern  schismatics.  In  1237  the  Dominicans 
gained  distinction  by  bringing  back  some  of  the 
Eastern  Jacobites  to  the  Church.  The  labour  which 
the  Friars  Preachers  undertook  was  no  easy  task. 
Ninety  of  them  perished  at  one  time  in  Eastern 
Hungary;  and  yet  there  were  ever  men  ready  when 
new  sacrifices  were  required.  There  is  a  legend,  and  it 
can  be  no  more  than  a  legend,  that  in  1316  some  of 
the  Dominicans  reached  the  kingdom  of  Prester  John 
in  Abyssinia,  where  a  church  was  established  and  one 
of  the  princes  appointed  inquisitor-general.  After 
the  conquest  of  America  the  Friars  Preachers,  true  to 
their  traditions,  sent  forth  evangelists  to  Mexico,  New 
Granada,  and  Peru. 

The  Franciscans,  no  less  than  the  Dominicans,  were 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  119 


eager  to  convert  the  infidel.  A  bull  of  Alexander 
IV.,  of  date  1258,  was  addressed  to  the  friars 
among  the  Saracens,  Pagans,  Greeks,  Bulgarians, 
Cumans,  Ethiopians,  Syrians,  Iberians,  Alans,  Cathari, 
Goths,  Zichori,  Russians,  Jacobites,  Nubians,  Nes- 
torians,  Georgians,  Armenians,  Indians,  Muscovites, 
Tartars,  Hungarians,  and  also  to  those  labouring 
among  the  Christians  captured  by  the  Turks.  This 
list,  which  is  not  a  geographical  enumeration,  is 
a  witness  of  the  extraordinary  zeal  of  the  Brother- 
hood. A  bull  of  Clement  vi.,  in  1342,  gave  the 
Franciscans  the  guardianship  of  the  holy  places  of 
Jerusalem,  and  it  was  not  unbecoming  that  those  who 
bore  the  name  of  Francis  should  be  protectors  of 
places  made  sacred  by  Him  whom  the  saint  fervently 
loved  and  dutifully  served.  Later  in  their  history  the 
Minorites  aided  Columbus  when  he  prepared  his 
expedition,  and  at  Hayti  a  Franciscan  opened  the  first 
Christian  church  of  the  New  World. 

Everywhere  the  missionaries  wandered,  and  mar- 
vellous was  the  tale  of  their  bravery.  Marco  Polo 
brought  word  of  the  good  government  of  Kubla  Khan, 
and  Gregory  x.,  in  1274,  sent  out  two  Dominicans 
to  his  kingdom.  They,  in  1289,  were  followed  by 
two  Franciscans,  and  one  of  these,  Joannes  de  Monte 
Corvino,  returning  some  years  later,  reported  concern- 
ing his  work.  He  had  built  a  church  with  dome  and 
bells  in  Cambalu  (Pekin),  had  taught  Latin  and  Greek 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  boys,  and  had  converted  six 
thousand  people,  preparing  breviaries  and  psalteries 
for  their  use.  He  spoke  of  the  tolerance  of  the  native 
priests,  adding  that  they  were  more  to  be  admired 
than  those  of  Italy.     Raimund  de   Pennaforti,  the 


I20  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Dominican  general,  who  died  in  1273,  demonstrated  at 
once  his  love  of  learning  and  his  practical  wisdom 
when  he  founded  schools  at  Tunis  and  Murcia  for  the 
training  of  friars  in  Oriental  languages.  No  more 
intrepid  ambassadors  of  Christ  ever  carried  the  gospel 
over  the  world  than  the  followers  of  Dominic  and 
Francis.    Cardinal  Newman  has  thus  pictured  them — 

"  The  friars,  too,  the  zealous  band 

By  Dominic  or  Francis  led, 
They  gather  and  they  take  their  stand 

Where  foes  are  fierce  or  friends  have  fled." 

The  life-work  of  a  friar,  in  the  years  when  the 
mendicants  were  quickening  the  piety  of  nations,  may 
be  illustrated  from  the  biography  of  Antony  of  Padua. 
This  man,  whose  fame  was  ■  spread  abroad  while  he 
lived,  and  not  diminished  when  he  died,  was  a 
Portuguese,  who  changed  his  name  from  Ferdinand  to 
Antony  on  becoming  a  Minorite.  He  was  educated  by 
the  Augustinians,  joining  their  Order,  but  passed  to 
the  Franciscans  when  he  heard  that  five  of  their 
number  had  been  martyred  in  Morocco.  His 
enthusiasm  induced  him  to  set  out  for  Morocco,  but, 
suffering  shipwreck,  he  was  forced  to  return  to 
Europe.  In  Assisi  he  was  fortunate  to  meet  Francis 
himself,  from  whom  he  received  a  blessing,  which  was 
an  inspiration.  He  was  appointed  to  work  in  France 
and  Italy.  Soon  he  became  distinguished  as  a 
preacher ;  crowds  assembled  to  hear  him  ;  the  business 
of  a  town  would  cease  for  the  hour  that  men  might 
flock  to  him.  In  the  legend  it  is  related  that  a  noted 
tyrant,  Eccelino  da  Romano,  prostrated  himself  at  his 
feet.    Antony's  friends  thought  he  would  be  done  to 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  121 


death  when  he  uttered  the  words :  "  How  long,  thou 
cruel  tyrant,  wilt  thou  continue  shedding  innocent 
blood  ?  Seest  thou  not  the  vengeance  of  God  ready 
to  overwhelm  thee,  the  sword  of  the  Lord  drawn  to 
smite  thee  ?  Repent,  or  it  will  fall  and  destroy  thee." 
Antony  laboured  with  singular  earnestness  among  the 
worldly  and  sinful  in  the  Church,  and  at  the  same 
time  met  in  argument  the  heretics  whom  he  found  in 
the  cities  of  Italy.  At  all  times  he  was  strict  in 
obedience  to  the  Rule  and  customs  of  Francis,  and 
strenuously  opposed  Elias  of  Cortona  in  his  attempt  to 
chancre  the  traditions  of  the  Order.  Broken  in  health 
by  his  fervour  in  preaching  and  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
mendicant  life,  he  retired  to  Padua,  where  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-six  he  died.  Shortly  after  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  1231,  he  was  canonised,  the 
first  Franciscan,  after  the  founder  himself,  to  be  made 
a  saint.  It  is  told  of  Antony  that  on  one  occasion  the 
fish  gathered  to  hear  him  preach,  as  did  the  birds 
in  the  history  of  Francis.  It  is  also  related  that  he 
was  preaching  at  a  general  chapter  of  his  Order 
when  Francis  appeared  in  the  midst,  his  arms 
extended  and  in  an  attitude  of  benediction. 

The  most  eloquent  of  the  first  Dominicans  was  John 
of  Vicenza,  who,  while  a  student  of  law  at  Padua,  heard 
Dominic  addressing  a  multitude  in  the  great  piazza  of 
the  city.  Immediately  after  the  sermon  he  forsook 
the  study  of  law  to  receive  the  habit  and  enter  the 
new  Order.  He  was  sent  to  Bologna,  and  afterwards 
returned  to  Padua,  where  he  became  famous.  When 
he  preached,  crowds  were  attracted ;  and  the  legend 
has  it  that  the  angels  were  seen  whispering  in  his  ears, 
and  that  when  he  spoke  of  the  rosary  a  bright  rose 


122  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


appeared  on  his  brow  or  a  golden  crown  over  his  head. 
He  was  called  the  Apostle  of  Lombardy,  and  to  him 
has  been  assigned  the  introduction  of  the  well-known 
salutation,  "  God  save  you,"  by  which  he  hoped  to  foster 
courtesy.  The  legend  further  relates  that  he  converted 
one  hundred  thousand  heretics  by  his  tale  of  Dominic's 
life  and  miracles  ;  and  that  at  Verona  he  addressed  a 
multitude  of  three  hundred  thousand,  assembled  to 
swear  peace,  impressing  them  with  Christ's  words : 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you." 
The  story  of  the  translation  of  the  body  of  Dominic 
ascribes  a  special  favour  to  this  man.  As  he  stood  by 
the  coffin  he  made  way  for  a  bishop,  when  the  body  of 
the  saint  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  great  preacher. 
Again  he  moved,  and  again  the  body  turned,  that  it 
might  be  seen  that  the  saint  counted  sanctity  higher 
than  ecclesiastical  dignity.  An  apostle  of  peace  though 
Friar  John  claimed  to  be,  he  burned  on  one  occasion 
sixty  of  the  Cathari  in  the  piazza  of  Verona. 

The  history  of  the  settlement  of  the  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  in  Eno^land  serves  to  show  in  detail  how 
the  mendicants  entered  upon  a  mission  field.  No 
minute  account  has  been  preserved  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Dominicans,  who  preceded  the  Franciscans  in 
their  labours  in  England.  In  the  year  1220  or  1221 — 
the  date  is  disputed — Gilbert  de  Fraxineto  with  a 
company  of  twelve  Dominicans  was  received  by 
Stephen  Langton,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 
tested  their  powers  as  preachers  and  was  satisfied. 
Oxford,  the  seat  of  a  university,  was  evidently  their 
desired  destination,  as  in  that  city  they  established 
their  first  house  in  England. 

Anthony  Wood,  in  his  treatise  on  the  city  of  Oxford, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  123 


quotes  from  a  MS.  of  Trivettus,  an  historian  of  the 
reign  of  Edward  iii.,  giving  this  translation  :  "  This 
year  (to  wit,  1221)  the  Preaching  Fryers  were  sent 
into  England.  Who  being  in  number  thirteen,  and 
having  for  their  priour  Brother  Gilbert  de  Fraxineto, 
accompanied  with  the  venerable  Father  Peter  de 
Rupibus,  Bishop  of  Wynton,  came  to  Canterbury. 
Who  when  they  had  presented  themselves  to  Stephen 
(Langton),  archbishop  thereof,  and  (he)  hearing  that 
they  were  Preaching  Fryers,  commanded  Brother 
Gilbert  that  he  should  make  a  sermon  before  him  in 
the  church,  in  which  he  himself  (as  it  should  seem) 
had  purposed  to  preach  the  same  day.  With  whose 
words  the  archbishop  was  soe  out  of  measure  aedified, 
that  all  his  time  afterward  he  with  great  love  and 
favour  advanced  the  religion  of  these  brethren.  But 
they,  going  forward,  went  from  Canterbury  to  London, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  feast  of  St.  Laurence. 
And  going  beyond,  they  came  to  Oxon  on  the  feast  of 
the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  Mary  (15  Aug.),  to 
whose  honor  they  there  built  an  oratory  and  had 
scholes,  which  are  now  called  St.  Edward's,  in  whose 
parish  they  received  an  habitation  in  which  they 
continued  for  some  time.  But  when  there  was  noe 
opportunity  of  enlarging  the  place,  they  translated 
themselves  to  another  place  granted  to  them  by  the 
king,  where  now  they  inhabit  without  the  walls." 

According  to  Wood's  narrative,  the  friars  when  they 
approached  Oxford  prayed  to  God,  with  hands  lifted 
up  to  heaven,  that,  as  they  had  hitherto  been  kindly 
received  by  all,  they  might  meet  with  courtesy  from 
the  students.  "  At  their  entrance  they  applyed  them- 
selves to  the  grandies  of  the  Universitie,  and  at  length 


124 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


to  the  canons  of  S.  Frideswyde's,  those  of  Osney,  and 
to  the  chief  burgesses  of  the  towne.  With  the  formei^ 
they  obtained  respect  by  reason  of  tkeir  learned  parts 
in  philosophy  and  divinity ;  with  the  said  canons  and 
burgesses  love  and  tendernesse,  because  of  their  simple 
and  saint-like  carriage.  At  length  diving  into  the 
favour  of  all  persons  in  these  parts,  they  obtained  a 
seat  in  the  priory,  to  the  end  that  by  their  exemplary 
carriage  and  gifts  of  preaching  the  Jewes  of  Oxford 
might  be  converted  to  the  Christian  faith."  The  first 
of  their  many  benefactors  was  Isabell  de  Bulbeck,  the 
wife  of  Robert  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  who  purchased  a 
plot  of  ground  and  gave  freely  of  her  money  that 
more  land  might  be  obtained,  "  whereon  a  mansion 
for  them  might  be  built." 

The  famous  Robert  Grosseteste,  probably  chancellor 
of  the  university  at  this  time,  was  one  of  the  first  to 
welcome  the  friars,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  they 
went  to  Oxford  at  his  invitation.  Three  of  his  friends 
joined  the  Order,  and  of  one  of  them,  John  de  St. 
Giles,  the  story  is  told  that,  preaching  on  poverty,  he 
determined  to  show  his  sincerity.  He  accordingly 
descended  from  the  pulpit,  assumed  the  Dominican 
dress,  and  returned  to  finish  the  sermon. 

The  settlement  of  the  Dominicans  may  be  further 
illustrated  by  the  instance  of  Cologne.  Jordan  of 
Saxony  and  Henry  of  Cologne,  in  1221,  opened  a 
hospitium  near  the  stately  cathedral,  and  officiated  in 
a  little  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Mary  Magdalene.  The 
chapel  was  soon  filled,  and  though  the  archbishop  was 
asked  by  the  local  clergy  to  remove  the  friars,  they 
remained  to  enlighten  the  people  and  rouse  the  priests 
to  duty.    The  Dominican  school  of  Cologne  was  to 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  125 


become  famous,  numberincr  amonor  its  teachers  Albertus 
Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas. 

Before  the  orcranisation  of  the  EnMish  mission  the 
Dominicans  had  settled  in  Paris.  Little,  however,  is 
known  of  this  foundation.  As  early  as  1217,  at  a 
meeting  at  Prouille,  seven  friars  were  commissioned  to 
set  out  for  Paris,  which,  famous  for  its  university,  was 
suited  as  a  residence  and  training:  school  for  men 
desiring  to  be  learned  students  and  accomplished 
preachers.  One  of  the  seven  was  Laurence,  an  English- 
man, who,  discoursing  on  his  heavenly  visions,  cheered 
his  companions  during  their  march  to  Paris;  and  on 
their  arrival  in  the  city,  where  grave  difficulties  were 
encountered,  Matthew,  a  Frenchman,  was^  leader,  and 
he  alone  knew  the  city  and  the  university.  After  ten 
months,  during  which  the  Brothers  occupied  a  small 
house  near  the  bishop's  palace,  they  were  befriended 
by  an  Englishman,  the  Dean  of  St.  Quentin.  With 
the  consent  of  his  colleagues  he  bestowed  on  the 
friars,  whose  piety,  humility,  and  eloquence  he  admired, 
the  hospital  erected  for  pilgrims,  on  Mount  St. 
Genevieve,  by  John  of  St.  Alban.  They  also  received 
the  adjoining  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  James ;  and  these 
two  buildings  formed  the  Convent  of  St.  James,  the 
first  of  the  Order  in  Paris.  Here  Albertus  Majxnus 
wrote  his  commentary  on  the  Sentences,  and  Thomas 
Aquinas  his  Sumrna. 

In  September  1224^  according  to  Thomas  of  Eccleston, 
a  band  of  Franciscans  arrived  at  Dover.  They  were 
poor,  and  provision  for  their  journey  across  the 
channel  had  been  made  by  the  monks  of  Fecamp.  Of 
this  band,  numbering  nine  persons,  with  four  clerics 
among  them,  the  leader  was  Agnellus,  an  Italian,  whom 


126  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Francis  himself  had  designated  minister  of  the  province 
of  England.  The  other  three  clerics  were  Englishmen, 
of  whom  one,  Richard  of  Ingworth,  was  a  priest. 
Among  the  laymen  was  Laurence  of  Beauvais,  to  whom 
Francis  on  his  deathbed  had  given  his  habit,  as  a 
token  of  his  affection.  From  Dover  these  men  pro- 
ceeded to  Canterbury,  where  they  were  entertained  for 
two  days  in  the  priory  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  then 
were  divided.  Four  went  to  London,  while  the  others 
continued  in  Canterbury,  being  lodged  in  the  hospital 
of  the  priests  till  a  little  chamber  was  given  them 
"in  the  house  of  the  scholars,  commonly  called  the 
school-house."  One  may  read  how  they  boiled  their 
porridge,  and  mixed  their  beer,  which  was  thick  and 
sour,  with  water,  that  it  might  go  further;  and  how 
thej^  were  merry  in  spite  of  poverty.  Their  ignorance 
of  English  kept  them  at  first  from  work.  One  of 
them,  however,  was  an  Englishman,  and  though  him- 
self too  young  to  preach,  he  helped  the  others  in  their 
studies,  and  all  were  ready  in  a  short  time  to  engage 
in  the  mission. 

By  their  sincerity  and  cheerfulness  the}^  won  their 
way  in  Canterbury,  and  a  house  was  built.  This  they 
would  not  accept,  but  borrowed  it  from  the  city 
corporation,  in  whom  it  was  vested  for  their  use. 

The  four  men  w^ho  had  gone  to  London  had  been  re- 
ceived by  the  Dominicans,  already  settled  in  the  city. 
They  spent  a  fortnight  with  these  Friars  Preachers, 
after  which,  hiring  a  piece  of  ground  in  Cornhill,  they 
erected  rude  huts  suitable  to  their  profession,  and  lived 
in  the  humblest  fashion  and  on  the  meanest  fare.  In 
the  following  year  they  were  offered  a  large  building 
in  the  parish  of  St.  Nicholas,  which  they  accepted  for 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  127 


their  use  only  when  it  had  been  made  over  to  the 
Corporation  of  London.  The  rule  of  poverty  was 
respected  in  these  early  days. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  of  their  lauding  in  Eng- 
land, or  in  1225,  as  another  account  has  it,  Richard  of 
Ingworth  and  Richard  of  Devon,  leaving  their  com- 
panions in  London,  set  out  for  Oxford.  Legend  has 
glorified  their  journey  by  telling  how  signs  were  given 
that  heaven  was  guarding  them.  As  they  approached 
the  university  city,  they  found  themselves  in  a  large 
wood,  and  as  it  was  nightfall  and  they  feared  the 
wild  beasts,  they  sought  a  shelter  with  the  monks  of 
Abingdon.  The  prior,  thinking  they  were  jesters  and 
not  servants  of  God,  would  not  receive  them ;  but  a 
young  monk,  when  his  brothers  had  retired,  showed 
them  a  hayloft,  giving  them  bread  and  beer.  The 
same  night  the  monk  dreamed  that  his  brethren  stood 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  and  ''there  came 
a  certain  poor  man,  humble  and  despised,  in  the  habit 
of  these  poor  friars,  and  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice : 
'  0  most  impartial  J udge,  the  blood  of  my  brethren, 
which  hath  been  shed  this  night,  crieth  unto  Thee. 
The  guardians  of  this  place  have  refused  them  meat 
and  lodging,  although  they  have  left  all  for  Thy  sake, 
and  were  now  coming  here  to  seek  those  souls  which 
Thou  hast  redeemed  with  Thy  blood ;  they  would  not, 
in  fact,  have  refused  so  much  to  jesters  and  mummers.' 
.  .  .  Then  the  Judge  commanded  them  to  be  hanged  on 
the  elm  that  stood  in  that  cloister."  In  the  morning 
the  dreamer  awoke  to  find  the  monks  dead,  and  shortly 
afterwards  he  joined  the  Minorites. 

The  two  Franciscans,  of  whom  this  legend  is  related, 
reached  Oxford,  where  they  met  with  a  reception  from 


128  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


the  Dominicans  very  different  from  that  given  by  the 
monks  of  Abingdon,  After  a  week  spent  with  their 
entertainers  they  obtained  a  house  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Ebbe,  where  they  began  to  lecture  and  to  preach,  and 
where  they  were  joined  by  "  many  honest  bachelors  and 
many  notable  men."  Increasing  rapidly,  they  required 
another  house ;  and  shortly  after  one  had  been  obtained, 
the  owner  "  conferred  the  land  and  house  on  the  com- 
munity of  the  town  for  the  use  of  the  Friars  Minors." 

The  house  was  not  a  palace,  since  the  infirmary  was 
"  so  low  that  the  height  of  the  walls  did  not  much 
exceed  the  height  of  a  man."  When  the  time  came  to 
build  a  church  the  friars  worked  with  their  own  hands, 
and  were  assisted  by  a  bishop  and  an  abbot,  who  did 
now,  "  soe  zealous  was  their  devotion  for  the  promotion 
of  this  sect,  carry  upon  their  shoulders  the  coule  and 
the  hod,  the  one  containing  water,  the  other  stones 
and  mortar  for  the  spedier  finishing  of  this  structure." 

A  school  was  also  established.  The  record  is  :  "  As 
Oxford  was  the  principal  place  of  study  in  England, 
where  the  whole  body  of  scholars  was  wont  to  con- 
gregate, Francis  Agnellus  caused  a  school  of  sufficiently 
decent  appearance  to  be  built  on  the  site  on  which  the 
friars  had  settled,  and  induced  Robert  Grosseteste,  of 
holy  memory,  to  lecture  to  them  there ;  and  under  him 
they  made  extraordinary  progress  in  sermons  as  well 
as  in  subtle  moral  themes  suitable  for  preaching." 

Grosseteste,  writing  somewhere  about  1238  to  Gregory 
IX.,  bore  this  favourable  testimony  to  the  work  of  the 
friars :  "  Your  Holiness  may  be  assured  that  in  England 
inestimable  benefits  have  been  produced  by  the  friars ; 
for  they  illuminate  the  whole  country  with  the  light 
of  their  preaching  and  learning.    Their  holy  conversa- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  129 


tion  excites  vehemently  to  contempt  of  the  world  and 
to  voluntary  poverty,  to  the  practice  of  humility  in 
the  highest  ranks,  to  obedience  to  the  prelates  and 
head  of  the  Church,  to  patience  in  tribulation,  abstin- 
ence in  plenty,  and,  in  a  word,  to  the  exercise  of  all 
virtues.  If  your  Holiness  could  see  with  what  devotion 
and  humility  the  people  run  to  hear  the  word  of  life 
from  them,  for  confession  and  instruction  in  daily  life, 
and  how  much  improvement  the  clergy  and  the  regulars 
have  obtained  by  imitating  them,  you  would  indeed 
say  that  'upon  them  that  dwell  in  the  shadow  of 
death  hath  the  liorht  shined.' " 

Grosseteste,  who  did  not  enter  either  of  the  Orders, 
was  friendly  to  both.  His  strongest  sympathies,  how- 
ever, were  with  the  Franciscans.  He  was  the  first 
reader  in  their  school;  and  while  he  endeavoured  to 
lead  them  in  the  path  of  learning,  he  insisted  they 
should  be  zealous  in  good  works,  as  Francis  had  given 
example. 

These  friars,  who  made  the  name  of  Francis  known 
in  England,  were  not  morose  while  obeying  their  Rule ; 
and  in  their  first  years  at  least,  no  scandal  soiled  their 
fame.  According  to  Eccleston,  "  the  brethren  were  so 
full  of  fun  among  themselves,  that  a  mute  could  hardly 
refrain  from  laughter  at  the  sight.  So  when  the  young 
friars  of  Oxford  laughed  too  frequently,  it  was  en- 
joined on  one  that  as  often  as  he  laughed  he  should 
be  punished.  Now  it  happened  that,  when  he  had 
received  no  punishment  in  one  day  and  yet  could  not 
restrain  himself  from  laughing,  he  had  a  vision  one 
uiorht  that  the  whole  convent  stood  as  usual  in  the 
choir,  and  the  friars  were  beginning  to  laugh  as  usual, 
and  behold  the  crucifix  which  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
9 


130  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


choir  turned  towards  them  as  though  alive,  and  said : 
'  They  are  the  sons  of  Corah,  who  in  the  hour  of 
chanting  laugh  and  sleep.'  .  .  .  On  hearing  this  dream 
the  friars  were  frightened,  and  behaved  without  any 
noticeable  laughter." 

Before  the  close  of  the  century  the  Oxford  Fran- 
ciscans were  reported  to  be  the  most  learned  body  of 
men  in  Christendom.  Their  fame  attracted  students 
from  Ireland,  Scotland,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Portugal ;  and  from  time  to  time  they  despatched 
teachers  to  the  leading  Franciscan  schools  in  Europe. 

From  Oxford  a  mission  was  sent  to  Cambridge,  where 
the  first  convent  was  a  disused  synagogue  situated 
near  the  common  prison.  A  larger  building  was  soon 
required,  and  one  was  erected  on  ground  purchased  for 
ten  marks  granted  from  the  royal  exchequer.  The 
chapel  was  "one  that  a  carpenter  could  build  in  a 
day's  time." 

Five  years  after  their  landing  the  Franciscans  had 
houses  in  the  chief  towns  of  England,  and  within  a 
generation  these  houses  numbered  forty-nine. 

Francis  himself,  according  to  the  Speculum  Vitce,  had 
shown  what  manner  of  houses  he  desired,  and  the 
wishes  of  the  saint  were  not  forgotten  by  those  who 
first  bore  his  name.  "  St.  Francis  said  to  Bonaventura, 
who  had  given  the  friars  a  farm  to  build  a  convent 
near  Siena,  '  Shall  I  tell  you  how  the  settlements  of 
the  friars  ought  to  be  built  ?  When  the  brethren  go 
to  any  city  where  they  have  no  place,  and  find  some 
one  who  is  ready  to  give  them  so  much  land  as  is 
sufiicient  for  a  building,  a  garden,  and  the  like,  they 
must,  above  all  things,  be  cautious  not  to  grasp  at 
more  than  is  necessary,  always  having  regard  to  holy 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  131 

poverty,  and  that  good  example  which  they  arc  bound 
to  exhibit  on  all  occasions.  When  they  have  a  com- 
petent piece  of  ground,  .  .  .  and  having  obtained  the 
bishop's  blessing,  they  shall  go  and  make  a  deep  ditch 
all  round  the  land  on  which  they  propose  to  build, 
and  a  good  fence  instead  of  a  wall,  as  an  emblem  of 
their  poverty.  Then  they  shall  build  poor  cottages  of 
mud  and  wood,  and  some  few  cells  for  the  friars  to 
pray  in  and  labour  in  for  the  eschewing  of  idleness. 
They  shall  have  small  churches  and  not  large  ones, 
either  for  preaching  or  on  any  other  pretence.  And  if 
ever  prelates  or  clerks,  or  religious  or  secular  men,  visit 
the  brethren,  their  poor  houses,  cells,  and  churches 
shall  prove  to  them  the  best  sermons,  and  they  shall 
be  more  edified  by  these  things  than  by  words."  The 
Franciscans  of  Paris,  it  is  told,  built  a  magnificent  hall, 
but  Brother  Agnellus  prayed  that  it  might  be  destroyed, 
and  it  immediately  fell. 

The  first  Franciscan  house  in  Rome  was  established 
in  1229,  in  the  hospital  of  St.  Blasio;  and  subsequently 
Innocent  iv.,  having  evicted  the  Benedictines  from  the 
Convent  of  St.  Maria  in  Ara  Coeli,  bestowed  it  on  the 
Minorites.  Gregorovius,  the  historian  of  Rome,  has 
shown  us  these  friars  :  "  Wearing  the  brown  cowl,  and 
with  the  white  cord  around  their  bodies,  triumphant 
mendicant  brothers  entered  the  ancient  capital,  and 
from  the  legendary  palace  of  Octaviau,  on  the  summit 
of  the  Tarpeian  fortress,  a  barefooted  '  general '  of 
mendicants  issued  commands  to  subject  'provinces,' 
which,  as  in  the  time  of  the  ancient  Romans,  stretclied 
from  distant  Britain  to  the  seas  of  Asia." 

The  mendicants,  largely  through  their  zeal  and 
partly  through  their  privileges,  outstripped  all  other 


132 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


religious  societies  in  the  Church.  Among  these  privi- 
leges was  the  right  to  take  into  their  ranks  members 
of  any  Brotherhood,  while  no  friar  could  be  withdrawn 
from  his  own  Order.  Their  advancement  in  the  four- 
teenth century  is  illustrated  by  the  story  that  the 
students  of  Oxford  were  reduced  from  thirty  thousand 
to  six  thousand.  Men  decided  that  their  sons  should 
not  pass  within  the  walls  of  the  university  lest  they 
should  become  friars.  These  figures  are  exaggerated, 
and  the  Black  Death  and  other  causes  helped  the  dim- 
inution of  the  students.  None  the  less,  the  enthus- 
iasm for  success  led  the  mendicants  to  unjust  deeds,  if 
we  believe  the  charge  of  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 

In  1357  he  appeared  before  the  papal  Court  at 
Avignon  with  this  declaration :  "  Enticed  by  the 
wiles  of  the  friars  and  by  little  presents,  these  boys 
(for  the  friars  cannot  circumvent  men  of  mature  age) 
enter  the  Orders,  nor  are  they  afterwards  allowed, 
according  to  report,  to  get  their  liberty  by  leaving  the 
Order,  but  they  are  kept  with  them  against  their  will 
until  they  make  profession ;  further,  they  are  not  per- 
mitted, as  it  is  said,  to  speak  with  their  father  or 
mother,  except  under  the  supervision  and  fear  of  a 
friar ;  an  instance  came  to  my  knowledge  this  very 
day;  as  I  came  out  of  my  inn  an  honest  man  from 
England,  who  has  come  to  this  Court  to  obtain  a 
remedy,  told  me  that  immediately  after  last  Easter, 
the  friars  at  the  university  of  Oxford  abducted  in  this 
manner  his  son,  who  was  not  yet  thirteen  years  old, 
and  when  he  went  there,  he  could  not  speak  with  him 
except  under  the  supervision  of  a  friar." 

The  popes,  as  a  rule,  would  listen  to  no  condemnation 
of  the  men  who  were  in  a  special  way  their  servants, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  133 


and  the  accusations  of  the  archbishop  led  to  no  remedy. 
The  university  of  Oxford,  however,  passed  a  statute 
which,  while  attesting  the  zeal  of  the  mendicants,  pro- 
nounced it  injurious  to  the  prosperity  of  the  univer- 
sity.  The  statute  runs :  "  It  is  generally  reported 
and  proved  by  experience,  that  the  nobles  of  this 
realm,  those  of  good  birth,  and  very  many  of  the 
common  people,  are  afraid,  and  therefore  cease,  to  send 
their  sons  or  relatives  or  others  dear  to  them  in  tender 
youth,  when  they  would  make  most  advance  in  prim- 
itive sciences,  to  the  university  to  be  instructed,  lest 
any  friars  of  the  Order  of  mendicants  should  entice 
or  induce  such  children,  before  they  have  reached 
years  of  discretion,  to  enter  the  Order  of  the  same 
mendicants ;  and  because  owing  to  the  admission  of 
such  boys  to  the  mendicant  Orders,  the  tranquillity 
of  the  students  of  the  university  has  been  often  dis- 
turbed ;  therefore  the  said  university,  zealous  in  the 
bowels  of  piety  both  for  the  number  of  her  sons  and 
the  quiet  of  her  students,  has  ordained  and  decreed, 
that  if  any  of  the  Order  of  mendicants  shall  receive 
to  their  habit  in  this  university,  or  induce,  or  cause 
to  be  received  or  induced,  any  such  youth  before  the 
completion  of  his  eighteenth  year  at  least,  or  shall 
send  such  an  one  away  from  the  university  or  cause 
him  to  be  sent  away,  in  order  that  he  may  be  received 
into  the  same  Order  elsewhere :  then  eo  ipso  no  one 
of  the  cloister  or  community  of  such  a  friar  .  .  .  being 
a  graduate,  shall  during  the  year  immediately  fol- 
lowing, read  or  attend  lectures  in  this  university  or 
elsewhere,  where  such  exercises  would  count  as  dis- 
charge of  the  statutable  requirements  in  this  univer- 
sity ;  and  this  penalty  shall  be  inflicted  on  all  those 


134  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  the  Order  of  mendicants,  and  the  associates  of 
all  those,  who  shall  be  convicted  by  credible  persons 
of  having  withdrav;rn  youths  in  any  v^ay  from  the 
university,  or  from  learning  philosophy." 

The  mendicants  were  able  to  induce  the  king  in 
parliament  to  annul  this  statute,  under  certain  con- 
ditions, and  once  more  they  triumphed. 

The  opposition  which  they  excited  may  have  been 
due  to  the  rivalry  of  the  secular  clergy,  who  were 
powerful  in  the  university ;  but  that  opposition  serves 
to  illustrate  the  reception  which  mendicant  enthusiasm 
provoked  among  the  members  of  existing  institutions. 

Wiclif  has  been  credited  with  continuing  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  archbishop.  It  was  not,  however,  till  1381 
that  he  came  into  conflict  with  the  friars  in  regard 
to  transubstantiation.  Yet  in  spite  of  quarrels  he 
was  not  unjust  to  their  reputation  when  he  pro- 
phesied :  "  I  anticipate  that  some  of  the  friars  whom 
God  shall  be  pleased  to  enlighten  will  return  with 
all  devotion  to  the  original  religion  of  Christ,  will 
lay  aside  their  unfaithfulness,  and  with  the  consent 
of  Antichrist,  offered  or  solicited,  will  freely  return 
to  primitive  truth,  and  then  build  up  the  Church, 
as  Paul  did  before  them." 

The  progress  of  the  two  great  Orders  was  extra- 
ordinary, exciting  the  jealousy  of  rivals,  and  fostering 
their  own  pride.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  when 
there  were  multitudes  of  conversions,  the  kingdom 
of  God  seemed  to  be  coming  with  observation. 

In  1825,  at  the  close  of  six  hundred  years  of  history, 
the  Dominicans  counted  among  their  numbers  four 
popes,  seventy  cardinals,  four  hundred  and  sixty 
bishops,  four  presidents  of  General  Councils,  twenty- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  135 


five  legates  a  latere,  eighty  apostolic  nuncios,  and 
one  prince-elector  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  They 
claimed,  too,  four  thousand  writers  of  distinction, 
though  they  placed  many  inglorious  names  on  this 
roll  of  fame.  They  were  able  to  point  to  men  of 
illustrious  reputation,  like  Thomas  Aquinas ;  and  with 
no  small  satisfaction  numbered  Antoninus,  the  first  to 
write  a  complete  history  of  the  world  ;  and  Jacobus  de 
Voragine,  whose  Golden  Legend  has  been  translated 
into  all  the  lanoruao^es  of  the  West.  Amonor  artists 
the  brilliant  names  of  Fra  Bartolomeo  and  Fra  Angelico 
have  been  associated  with  the  Order.  In  1243,  within 
a  generation  after  the  passing  of  Dominic,  one  of  the 
Friars-Preachers,  Hugh  of  Vienne,  was  created  a 
cardinal ;  and  another,  Peter  of  Tarentaise,  in  1276, 
ascended  the  papal  throne  as  Innocent  v. 

The  Minorites  relate  that  in  1381  they  had  fifteen 
hundred  houses,  though  another  account  has  it  that, 
in  1264,  there  were  ei^ht  thousand  cloisters  with  two 
hundred  thousand  friars.  In  their  catalogue  of  distin- 
guished men  are  five  popes,  fifty  cardinals,  and  a  host 
of  minor  prelates.  The  year  1289  saw  in  Nicholas  iv. 
the  Franciscan  as  pope. 

These  ecclesiastical  distinctions,  while  they  appear 
inappropriate  to  mendicants,  indicate  the  vast  influence 
exercised  by  the  friars  of  Dominic  and  Francis. 

Apart  from  their  exposition  of  the  dogma  when  they 
were  found  among  the  schoolmen,  and  their  protection 
of  it  when  they  acted  as  inquisitors,  the  Dominicans 
earned  and  retained  the  reputation  of  cultured 
preachers,  and  crowded  the  churches  with  hearers. 
Legend  played  about  the  mission  of  John  of  Vicenza, 
hiding  him  in  signs  and  wonders;  but  no  miracle 


136  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


save  the  love  of  Christ  inspired  the  lips  of  Savonarola, 
who,  in  the  closing  years  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
preached  the  gospel  of  repentance  in  Florence,  gaining 
distinction  with  persecution  for  himself,  and  enhancing 
the  fame  of  his  Order. 

The  Minorite  preacher,  who  for  a  time  kept  tte 
Florentines  away  from  Savonarola,  is  not  the  type 
of  the  true  friars  of  Francis,  who  found  their  mission 
not  among  the  rich  and  noble,  but  among  the  Tin- 
lettered  and  the  poor.  Shakespere  shows  us  two 
friars  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  While  the  scene  is 
Italian,  it  is  probable  that  use  is  made  of  the  repu- 
tation of  the  English  Minorites.  Friar  John  calls 
out,  "  Holy  Franciscan  friar !  brother !  ho  ! "  and  thus 
answers  Friar  Laurence — 

"  Going  to  find  a  bare-foot  brother  out, 

One  of  our  Order,  to  associate  me. 

Here  in  this  city  visiting  the  sick. 

And  finding  him,  the  searchers  of  the  town. 

Suspecting  that  we  both  were  in  a  house 

Where  the  infectious  pestilence  did  reign, 

Seal'd  up  the  doors,  and  would  not  let  us  forth." 

Centuries  after  the  foundation  of  the  Orders,  Lord 
Bacon  wrote  :  "  There  is  in  man's  nature  a  secret  in- 
clination and  motion  towards  love  of  others,  which, 
if  it  be  not  spent  upon  some  one,  or  a  few,  doth 
naturally  spread  it  selfe  towards  many ;  and  maketh 
man  become  humane  and  charitable;  as  it  is  scene 
sometime  in  friars." 

Professor  Brewer,  the  editor  of  Monumenta  Fran- 
ciscana,  has  pointed  out  the  influence  exercised  by 
the  Franciscans  over  the  poorer  classes  of  the  medieval 
towns,  and  has  attempted  to  prove  from  the  localities 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ORDERS  137 


of  their  convents  in  England  that  it  was  their  pur- 
pose to  labour  among  the  humblest  people.  In  these 
towns  there  were  masses  of  the  unenfranchised,  with 
no  part  in  municipal  life ;  and  the  trade  guilds  were 
close  corporations,  to  which  entrance  was  difficult. 
The  tyranny  of  feudalism  drove  the  impatient  from 
the  rural  districts  to  increase  the  poverty  and  dis- 
content of  the  cities,  where  the  struggle  for  life, 
the  meagre  rewards  of  labour,  the  pride  of  the  rich, 
made  the  poor  the  open  enemies  of  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  rulers,  and  caused  them  to  be  ever  ready 
for  religious  and  political  change.  "The  sediment 
of  the  town  population  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  says  a 
modern  writer,  "was  a  dense  slough  of  stagnant 
misery,  squalor,  famine,  loathsome  disease,  and  dull 
despair,  such  as  the  worst  slums  of  London,  Paris, 
or  Liverpool  know  nothing  of." 

The  same  writer,  Dr.  Jessop,  in  The  Coming  of  the 
Friars,  gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  Franciscans 
in  England.  "  Outside  the  city  walls,"  he  says,  "  at 
Lynn  and  York  and  Bristol ;  in  a  filthy  swamp  at 
Norwich,  through  which  the  drainage  of  the  city 
sluggishly  trickled  into  the  river,  never  a  foot  lower 
than  its  banks ;  in  a  mere  barn-like  structure,  with 
walls  of  mud,  at  Shrewsbury  ;  in  the  '  stinking  alley  ' 
in  London,  the  Minorites  took  up  their  abode,  and 
there  they  lived  on  charity,  doing  for  the  lowest  the 
most  menial  offices,  speaking  to  the  poorest  the  words 
of  hope,  preaching  to  learned  and  simple  such  sermons 
— short,  homely,  fervent,  and  emotional — as  the  world 
had  not  heard  for  many  a  day."  This  description, 
founded  on  facts  set  forth  in  the  Monumenta  Fran- 
ciscana,  makes,  indeed,  for  the  conclusion  that  the 


138  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Franciscan  mission  was  primarily  intended  for  the 
outcasts  and  the  poor.  For  these  unfortunate  men 
there  was  practically,  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  no  religious  provision ;  and  it  is  therefore 
intelligible  why,  in  France  and  Italy  especially,  where 
the  Church  was  richest  and  most  powerful,  heresy 
flourished  and  was  the  sign  of  priestly  neglect.  The 
churches  were  indeed  open  to  all,  but  they  were  not 
placed  where  the  poor  herded;  and  between  the 
worldly  ecclesiastics  and  the  dwellers  in  the  slums 
there  was  a  violent  social  contrast,  and  neither 
courtesy  nor  sympathy.  To  the  destitute  the  friars 
of  St.  Francis  went  with  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and, 
as  not  seldom  they  had  renounced  wealth  and  rank, 
their  sincerity  was  respected.  They  had  indeed 
houses  as  soon  as  they  settled  in  a  town,  but  luxury 
was  unknown  and  comfort  there  was  none.  Their 
fare  was  scanty,  their  dress  that  of  paupers.  Many 
were  not  priests,  and  none  were  worldly  ecclesiastics. 
And  so  they  found  their  way  to  the  weary  and  heavy 
laden,  and  were  welcomed.  They  preached  the  gospel 
to  the  poor,  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  Man,  who 
had  not  where  to  lay  His  head;  and  they  told  the 
tale  of  Mary,  tender  and  compassionate.  They  were 
bearers,  indeed,  of  glad  tidings,  of  the  love  of  God,  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  pity  of  the  Virgin ; 
and  they  who  received  them  learned  that  though 
despised  on  earth  they  were  remembered  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Mendicants  and  the  Inquisition 

Innocent  hi.,  Gibbon  says,  "may  boast  of  the  two 
most  signal  triumphs  over  sense  and  humanity,  the 
establishment  of  transubstantiation  and  the  origin  of 
the  Inquisition."  The  great  pope,  through  whom  the 
papacy  reached  its  height  of  political  grandeur,  opposed 
arms  to  heresy  when  worldly  policies  had  destroyed, 
and  priestly  threatenings  had  failed  to  restore,  the 
unity  of  the  Church.  There  was  an  inquisition,  indeed, 
among  the  Cathari,  which  preceded  the  crusade,  but 
wanting  organisation  it  proved  ineffective.  The  crusade 
itself  secured  victims  by  the  thousand,  and  yet  when 
the  tale  of  blood  was  told,  the  progress  of  heresy  had 
still  to  be  checked.  Dominic  worked  in  Languedoc, 
and  many  have  styled  him  the  founder  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion ;  yet  it  was  not  formally  established  till  years 
had  passed  after  his  death.  His  purpose,  to  raise  up 
learned  expounders  of  the  dogma,  was  realised  through 
his  own  enthusiasm  and  devotion  to  the  Church.  When, 
however,  the  fervour  he  inspired  had  been  chilled,  and 
meaner  concerns  interested  and  occupied  the  friars,  it 
was  natural  that  these  men  with  intellectual  traditions 
should  be  ready  for  service  when  Rome  determined  to 
organise  a  magistracy  for  examining  the  faith  of  indi- 
viduals and  assigning  punishments.    Right  reason  de- 

139 


I40  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


manded  that  the  dogma,  judged  by  believers  to  be  the 
truth  of  God,  should  be  expounded  and  defended  by 
trained  men ;  and  an  expectation  was  formed  that  this 
truth  would  secure  a  signal  success,  if  only  its  divine 
character  could  be  demonstrated.  Dominic's  scheme, 
certainly  no  worthless  one,  was  meant  to  secure  the 
victory  of  truth  over  error  by  lawful  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical  means ;  but  it  was  violated  when  the 
Inquisition  crushed  heretics  and  schismatics,  and  free- 
dom was  opposed  by  crass  authority. 

The  radiant  love  of  Francis,  which  glowed  on  all  God's 
creation,  had  nothing  akin  to  that  stern  spirit  which 
filled  the  men  who  touched  the  cruel  work  of  the 
Inquisition;  and  yet  there  were  Franciscans  who 
became  papal  extirpators  of  heresy. 

The  crusade,  as  a  religious  war,  failed  in  Languedoc, 
and  under  the  leadership  of  Simon  de  Montfort  passed 
into  a  territorial  campaign,  by  which  he  enriched  his 
family  and  ultimately  increased  the  domain  of  France. 
Heresy  was  not  vanquished ;  and  Eome,  not  content  to 
be  less  than  victor,  gradually  built  up  the  Inquisition, 
with  defined  powers  and  regular  officers,  to  be  an  engine 
for  destroying  the  enemies  of  the  Church  in  France 
and  tlirouo^hout  Christendom. 

The  history  of  the  Inquisition,  whatever  the  motives 
of  churchmen  may  have  been,  reveals  a  long  and  varied 
series  of  crimes  against  humanity.  The  number  of  the 
victims  of  the  Holy  Office  in  any  country  cannot  be 
given,  since  accounts  were  not  always  kept,  and  some  of 
the  actual  records  were  destroyed  in  the  fury  of  revolu- 
tions. Llorente,  in  his  history  of  the  Inquisition,  asserts 
that  in  Spain  alone  thirty-one  thousand  persons  were 
burnt,  and  two  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  otherwise 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  141 


punished.  These  figures  liave  been  examined  by  Prescott 
and  discounted  by  Hefele ;  but  no  partisan,  by  reducing 
statistics,  has  been  able  to  remove  the  disgrace  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition. 

Significant  is  the  fact  chronicled  by  Motley  :  "  Upon 
the  16th  of  February  1568  a  sentence  of  the  Holy  Office 
condemned  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  to 
death  as  heretics.  A  proclamation  of  the  king,  dated  ten 
years  later,  confirmed  this  decree  of  the  Inquisition  and 
ordered  it  to  be  carried  into  instant  execution.  .  .  . 
Three  millions  of  people,  men,  women,  and  children, 
were  sentenced  to  the  scaflfold  in  three  lines."  With 
the  Holy  Office,  as  a  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  Court, 
the  mendicants,  and  especially  the  Dominicans,  were 
associated ;  and  the  praise  or  blame  for  its  deeds  was 
theirs,  even  while  the  ultimate  responsibility  rested 
with  the  Church. 

Before  the  thirteenth  century,  by  an  arrangement 
based  on  the  Theodosian  Code,  the  duty  of  securing 
purity  of  belief  was  assigned  to  the  bishop,  who  was 
the  accuser,  and  the  civil  magistrate,  who  was  the 
judge.  The  mendicants,  however,  acquired  the  right 
to  seek  out  and  to  punish  heretics.  Probably  the 
machinations  of  Frederick  11.  influenced  the  popes  to 
take  into  their  own  hands  the  treatment  of  their 
religious  enemies,  many  of  whom  had  avowed  them- 
selves imperialists. 

The  relation  of  the  civil  magistrate  to  religion,  the 
connection  of  Church  and  State,  are  questions  variously 
answered  and  provocative  of  prejudice  and  passion. 
Rome  demanded  submission  from  governments;  but 
in  sending  out  inquisitors  it  weakened  its  connection 
with  various  States,  and  there  were  countries  with 


142  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


courage  and  strength  to  preserve  their  citizens  from 
the  hands  of  the  officials  of  religion.  It  was  by  no 
violent  assertion  of  prerogative  that  Innocent  ill.  called 
upon  Raymond  of  Toulouse  to  crush  the  Albigenses, 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  did  Frederick  ii.  usurp  a  right 
when,  to  preserve  the  favour  of  the  Church,  he  enacted 
stern  laws  for  the  suppression  of  heretics ;  but  when 
one  pope  after  another  sent  the  mendicants  to  exercise 
functions  which  had  belonged  to  civil  magistrates,  and 
to  treat  useful  and  well-behaved  citizens  with  barbaric 
cruelty,  the  union  of  the  Church  with  certain  States 
was  weakened,  and  kings  learned  that  their  obedience 
to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  defined  limits.  Philip  the 
Fair,  to  take  one  example,  opposed  the  Dominican 
inquisitors  of  Toulouse,  when  he  was  in  open  quarrel 
with  Rome,  and  released  many  of  their  prisoners.  The 
kings  of  England,  with  the  pride  and  power  of  their 
country,  did  not  submit  the  liberties  of  their  subjects 
to  the  tyranny  of  a  foreign  and  secret  tribunal. 

The  usurpation  by  clerics  of  functions  long  exercised 
by  civil  magistrates,  and  the  disputes  regarding  the 
nature  of  the  cases  falling  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts,  caused  disturbances 
not  easily  settled.  They  had,  moreover,  far-reaching 
effects,  and  may  be  taken  as  factors  in  the  secularisa- 
tion of  politics,  as  Lecky  styles  it,  which  is  character- 
istic of  the  life  of  the  modern  world. 

The  bishops  of  the  Church  having  failed  to  preserve 
doctrinal  purity,  even  in  Rome,  might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  welcome  the  mendicants  as  inquisitors,  especi- 
ally the  Preachers,  with  their  training  in  theology ;  but 
a  Ions:  and  bitter  strife  beg-an  when  a  Dominican  re- 
ccived  a  commission  to  examine  a  case  of  heresy. 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  143 


The  friars,  having  no  monastic  duties  and  no  paro- 
chial attachments,  were  free  to  be  the  servants  of  the 
Church ;  and  scholarship  was  at  first  an  excellent 
preparation  for  the  service  to  whicli  they  were  called. 
The  leadinor  heretics  were  not  foolish  and  unlettered 
men  seeking  for  novelties  in  religion  and  dominated 
by  rash  enthusiasm.  Some  were  intelligent  critics  of 
theological  pretensions  and  skilled  opponents  of  certain 
doctrines  set  forth  as  truths  of  God,  even  though  their 
own  systems  of  thought  were  at  fault.  The  ordinary 
bishop  or  priest,  with  no  speculative  interests  and  no 
scientific  education,  was  singularly  unfitted  to  deal 
with  intellectual  foes.  He  did  not,  as  a  rule,  object 
to  cruel  methods,  and  did  not  reckon  argument  his 
only  weapon  with  which  to  meet  an  enemy.  He  might 
therefore  have  welcomed  the  aid  of  trained  men,  had 
not  his  own  province  been  invaded  and  his  privileges 
reduced.  He  accordingly  opposed  the  functionaries, 
while  approving  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition. 

The  Dominicans  were  the  first  papal  servants,  after 
the  termination  of  the  crusade,  to  receive  a  command 
to  labour  among  the  Albigenses.  It  is  to  the  year 
1227,  however,  that  the  Inquisition  may  be  assigned, 
though  some  have  associated  its  foundation  with  the 
injunctions  of  the  fourth  Lateran  Council  to  bishops 
to  search  for  and  punish  heretics.  In  that  year  atten- 
tion was  called  to  Filippo  Paternon,  a  prelate  in  whose 
diocese,  extending  from  Pisa  to  Arezzo,  Catharism  had 
progressed,  and  from  which  it  had  passed  to  Florence. 
In  its  early  stage,  in  the  year  1226,  the  case  had  been 
tried  before  the  Bishop  of  Florence  and  a  magistrate. 
Paternon,  pleading  guilty,  was  released  without  punish- 
ment ;  but  as  he  continued  in  his  old  ways,  Gregory  ix. 


144  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


appointed  a  commission  to  examine  the  charges  brought 
against  him,  and  gave  the  chief  place  in  it  to  a 
Dominican,  Fra  Giovanni  di  Salerno.  The  canons 
fixed  by  the  Lateran  Council  for  settling  the  troubles 
in  Languedoc  were  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  this 
case.  Fra  Giovanni  died  in  1230,  but  a  successor  was 
appointed  and  the  work  continued.  It  is  this  com- 
mission which  may  be  reckoned  the  formal  beginning 
of  the  Inquisition,  seeing  that  its  members  were  named 
and  its  powers  defined. 

The  work  of  Fra  Giovanni  and  his  successor  satisfied 
Rome,  and  in  1233  Gregory  ix.  issued  two  bulls,  which 
have  sometimes  been  taken  as  the  foundation  of  the 
Inquisition.  A  Council  of  Toulouse,  1229,  had  enacted, 
in  conformity  with  the  injunctions  of  the  Lateran  Coun- 
cil, that  each  city  should  establish  a  board  of  inquisition, 
composed  of  one  cleric  and  three  laymen.  This  arrange- 
ment, however,  was  set  aside  by  the  new  decrees. 

The  first  of  these  decrees,  addressed  to  bishops,  con- 
tained the  words :  "  We,  seeing  you  engrossed  in  the 
whirlwind  of  cares,  and  scarce  able  to  breathe  in  the 
pressure  of  overwhelming  anxieties,  think  it  well  to 
divide  your  burdens,  that  they  may  be  more  easily 
borne.  We  have  therefore  determined  to  send  preach- 
ing friars  against  the  heretics  of  France  and  the 
adjoining  provinces,  and  we  beg,  warn,  and  exhort  you, 
ordering  you,  as  you  reverence  the  Holy  See,  to  receive 
them  kindly,  and  to  treat  them  well,  giving  them  in 
this,  as  in  all  else,  favour,  counsel,  and  aid,  that  they 
may  fulfil  their  ofiice."  The  second  bull,  addressed  to 
the  "  Priors  and  Friars  of  the  Order  of  Preachers, 
Inquisitors,"  proceeded  thus:  "Therefore  you,  or  any 
of  you,  wherever  you  may  happen  to  preach,  are  em- 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  145 


powered,  unless  they  desist  from  such  defence  (of 
heretics)  on  monition,  to  deprive  clerks  of  their  bene- 
fices forever,  and  to  proceed  against  them  and  all 
others,  without  appeal,  calling  in  the  aid  of  the  secular 
arm,  if  necessary,  and  coercing  opposition,  if  requisite, 
with  the  censures  of  the  Church,  without  appeal." 
Gregory  did  not  see  the  consequences  of  his  act  when 
he  bestowed  such  extraordinary  power ;  and,  at  a  later 
time,  to  limit  the  number  with  this  authority,  was 
compelled  to  instruct  the  provincials  of  the  Order  to 
select  specially  qualified  men. 

It  was  deemed  a  wise  and  merciful  arrangement 
that  bishops  or  priests  should  not  preside  over  the 
newly  constituted  tribunals,  as  they  might  act  with 
malice  against  private  enemies,  involving  the  innocent 
with  the  guilty.  The  mendicants,  on  the  other  hand, 
with  no  local  connections  where  they  laboured,  might 
be  expected  to  do  justly,  and  to  be  above  suspicion  of 
avarice.  And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  at  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Inquisition  they  were  at  their  full  height 
of  popularity,  honoured  as  good  and  faithful  servants 
of  religion. 

In  Languedoc,  however,  some  of  these  friars  laboured 
in  a  fashion  which  stirred  hatred  and  fury,  and  in 
that  place  was  begun  the  unholy  reputation  of  the 
Inquisition.  The  traditions  of  the  crusade  and  the 
religious  character  of  the  people  stimulated  the  friars 
to  a  rigour  which  w^as  cruelty,  and  a  zeal  which  was 
brutality.  Legal  methods,  even  the  crudities  of  medieval 
times,  were  abandoned.  False  witnesses  were  heard ; 
or  at  anyrate,  the  evidence  of  criminals  was  accepted. 
The  accused  were  entrapped  by  insidious  questions,  and 
advocates  were  refused  for  their  defence.  In  many 
10 


146  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


places  there  were  riots,  and,  though  in  1237  the  pope 
associated  the  milder  Franciscans  with  the  Dominicans, 
the  tumult  continued,  till  for  a  time  the  Inquisition  was 
suspended.  Another  interest  attaches  to  this  raid  on 
unbelief.  In  Languedoc  the  inquisitors  began  the 
regular  use  of  the  punishment  of  burning,  which  the 
Church  has  made  its  own,  improperly  interpreting  the 
v/ords :  "  If  a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth 
as  a  branch,  and  is  withered;  and  men  gather  them, 
and  cast  them  into  the  fire,  and  they  are  burned." 
This  punishment  was  not  new,  being  known  from  the 
period  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  but  it  had  been 
rarely  employed. 

At  the  publication  of  the  bulls  of  1233  it  was  not 
the  intention  of  the  pope  to  interfere  with  the 
bishops,  and  at  first  there  was  no  serious  friction.  In 
that  year  certain  rules  were  approved  by  Rome,  con- 
taining provision  that  in  every  diocese  the  bishops 
should  act  in  name  of  the  Church.  In  1234  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Sens  remonstrated  against  the  invasion  of 
the  friars  as  inquisitors  into  his  territory,  and  Gregory 
IX.,  revoking  all  commissions,  simply  advised  the  pre- 
late to  make  use  of  the  Preachers.  Further  proof  is 
not  wanting  that  Rome  had  no  intention  of  interfering 
with  episcopal  rights.  Fra  Ruggieri  Calcagni,  in  1243, 
described  himself  as  "inquisitor  Domini  Papge  in 
Tuscia,"  and  elsewhere  styled  himself  inquisitor  of  the 
pope  and  the  bishop.  In  spite  of  papal  prudence,  how- 
ever, the  Dominicans  were  to  come  into  collision  with 
the  prelates,  wresting  from  them  and  from  the  Francis- 
cans the  supreme  control  of  the  Inquisition. 

It  is  not  strange,  from  the  aggressive  orthodoxy  and 
ecclesiastical  zeal  of  Dominic,  that  his  friars  should 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  147 


have  become  inquisitors ;  but  it  is  surprising  that 
followers  of  Francis  should  have  engaged  in  the  work 
of  crushing  heretics.  They  may  have  been  moved  by 
jealousy,  grudging  distinction  to  their  rivals.  In  any 
case,  they  acted  as  inquisitors ;  and  to  them  were 
entrusted  parts  of  France  and  Italy,  and,  later, 
Bohemia  and  Dalmatia.  In  1254,  by  the  special 
arrangement  of  Innocent  IV.,  the  care  of  Italy  was 
divided  between  the  two  Orders,  and  to  the  Franciscans 
were  assigned  the  central  and  southern  districts. 
Occasionally  the  Orders  were  associated,  as  in  Aragon, 
where  the  two  provincials  were  appointed  the  chief 
inquisitors  of  the  kingdom,  but  this  association 
nowhere  conduced  to  peace.  It  was  inevitable  that 
"offences  should  come,  when  servants  of  Rome  were 
associated  with  men,  such  as  the  French  prelates,  who 
did  not  lightly  yield"  to  the  pope.  This  association  is 
illustrated  from  the  Council  of  Narbonne,  1243  or 
1244,  at  which  were  representatives  from  the  provinces 
of  Narbonne,  Aries,  and  Aix. 

The  canons  of  this  council  were  addressed  to  the 
Dominicans,  and  these  words  were  written  by  the 
bishops  :  "  We  write  this  to  you,  not  that  we  wish  to 
bind  you  down  by  our  advice,  as  it  would  not  be  fitting 
to  limit  the  freedom  accorded  to  your  discretion  by  other 
forms  and  rules  than  those  of  the  Holy  See,  to  the  pre- 
judice of  the  business ;  but  we  wish  to  help  your  devo- 
tion, as  we  are  commanded  to  do  by  the  Holy  See,  since 
you,  who  bear  our  burdens,  ought  to  be,  through  mutual 
charity,  assisted  with  help  and  advice."  Further,  the 
inquisitors  were  to  have  the  right  to  pass  judgments 
.and  impose  sentences ;  and  this  significant  declaration 
was  made :  "  You  are  to  abstain  from  these  pecuniary 


148  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


penances  and  exactions,  both  for  the  sake  of  the 
honour  of  your  Order  and  because  you  will  have  fully 
enough  other  work  to  which  to  attend." 

A  provincial  council  could  not  bind  the  whole 
Church,  and  very  soon,  indeed,  the  canons  were 
modified  for  use  in  the  provinces  represented  in  the 
Council  of  Narbonne.  A  step  of  extreme  import- 
ance was  taken  when  a  body  of  bishops  entrusted 
to  the  Dominicans  definite  powers  of  sentencing  and 
punishing  heretics.  The  command  to  men  to  abstain 
from  imposing  pecuniary  penances,  for  the  sake  of  the 
honour  of  their  Order,  implies  a  rapid  decline  of 
purity  in  the  few  years  which  had  elapsed  from  the 
time  when  the  Dominican  chapter  accepted  the  rule 
of  poverty.  In  a  provincial  chapter,  in  1242,  it 
was  decided  that  money  should  not  be  touched  or 
pecuniary  penances  imposed.  Yet  temptation  was 
ever  strong,  and  in  1245  Innocent  I  v.  was  forced  to 
ordain  that  the  fines  which  were  still  continued  should 
be  expended  on  building  prisons  and  supporting 
prisoners ;  and,  in  1251,  the  same  pope  had  to  take 
the  extreme  step  of  forbidding  their  exaction.  The 
scandal,  however,  was  not  removed.  Nicholas  iv.  gave 
to  bishops  and  inquisitors  together  a  power  to 
nominate  custodians  and  administrators  of  the  money 
wrung  from  heretics.  Finally,  the  mendicants 
triumphed  when  Benedict  xi.,  in  1304,  decreed  that 
they  were  to  be  freed  from  episcopal  interference  and 
were  to  render  their  accounts  directly  to  papal 
deputies. 

Money  was  now  extorted  in  every  conceivable  way, 
and  many  were  the  scandals.  Benedict  himself 
addressed  a  warning  to  the  inquisitors  of  Padua  and 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  149 


Vicenza,  from  which  complaints  had  been  made  to 
Rome;  and  in  1311,  at  the  Council  of  Vienne, 
Clement  v.,  after  investigating  charges  against  the 
Dominicans,  put  on  record  that  he  was  convinced  they 
were  proven.  A  crisis  was  reached  when  Clement  vi., 
in  1343,  discovered  that  the  inquisitors  of  Florence 
and  Lucca  were  defrauding  the  papal  Court  of  its  legal 
share  of  fines.  Avarice  corrupted  the  mendicants,  and 
throughout  the  history  of  the  Inquisition  their  zeal  for 
purity  of  doctrine  was  stimulated  by  love  of  money, 
which  they  had  vowed  not  to  touch.  It  is  impossible 
to  estimate,  at  any  period,  the  wealth  derived  through 
the  Inquisition,  the  sale  of  indulgences  or  benefac- 
tions ;  but  the  dealings  of  the  English  Franciscans 
with  Boniface  viii.  serve  to  show  that  the  friars  had 
money  when  occasion  demanded.  These  Franciscans 
wished  the  pope  to  relax  their  Rule,  so  that  they  might 
hold  lands,  and  to  purchase  this  relaxation  they 
deposited  forty  thousand  ducats  with  certain  bankers. 
Boniface  showed  that  a  pontiff  was  not  above  sharp 
practices.  He  pretended  to  consider  the  question, 
and  then,  refusing  the  relaxation,  seized  the  ducats  on 
the  ground  that  the  Franciscans  had  no  right  to  possess 
money.  The  example  of  the  founders  of  the  Orders, 
the  express  directions  of  the  Rules,  and  their  vows, 
were  alike  powerless  to  overcome  cupidity. 

The  inquisitors  had  far-reaching  powers  to  make 
them  feared.  They  were  authorised  to  deal  directly 
with  suspects,  to  summon  any  individual  in  a  case  ; 
and  were  required  to  answer,  when  their  fame  was 
highest,  to  the  pope  alone.  The  superiors  of  the 
Orders,  after  long  years  of  conflict,  ceased  to  have 
jurisdiction    over    the    Brothers    serving    on  the 


ISO  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Inquisition  ;  and  when  Boniface  viii.  decreed  that  they 
had  a  power  of  removal  he  was  practically  overruled, 
tenacious  of  purpose  though  he  was,  when  the  friars 
claimed  that  they  must  be  tried  and  condemned,  and 
not  simply  deposed. 

The  Franciscan  superiors  endeavoured  to  preserve 
their  authority  by  granting  commissions  for  a  definite 
number  of  years,  but  the  Dominicans  were  persuaded 
that  such  commissions  were  useless  for  men  who  were 
to  be  papal  servants.  The  inquisitors  were  ever  in 
touch  with  Rome,  and  their  peculiar  services,  especially 
the  transmission  of  fines,  secured  powers  which  made 
them  independent  of  all  authority  save  that  of  the  pope. 

To  outward  appearance  the  inquisitors  were  still 
humble  friars,  as  they  wore  the  recognised  garments 
of  their  Orders,  and  professed  to  be  poor.  Yet  their 
humility  was  false,  and  a  layman  would  use  the  most 
extravagant  phrases  of  courtesy,  saying  even  :  "  Your 
Religious  Majesty,"  and  showing  himself  ever  ready 
to  flatter.  They  were  not  men  to  be  loved,  since 
tragedy  so  often  went  with  them  ;  and  the  local  clergy 
and  priests,  thinking  of  their  own  invaded  rights,  did 
nothing  to  help  them  to  be  respected.  Heretics  saw 
in  them  their  judges  and  executioners,  and  pious 
Catholics,  satisfied  to  be  at  peace  with  their  neighbours, 
looked  on  them  as  destroyers  of  social  order.  Very 
early  it  was  said  of  the  Dominicans :  "  They  have 
created  a  court  of  judgment,  and  whosoever  attacks 
them  they  declare  to  be  a  Waldensian ;  they  seek  to 
penetrate  into  the  secrets  of  all  men,  so  as  to  render 
themselves  dreaded." 

The  secular  clergy  had  another  grievance,  apart 
from  invaded  rights.    As  preservers  of  the  faith  the 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  151 


inquisitors  acted  as  ecclesiastical  police,  watching  the 
local  priests  and  reporting  on  their  work  to  the 
bishops,  who  were  required  to  act  as  ordered.  The  police 
work  might  have  produced  excellent  results,  as  it  was 
an  episcopal  service ;  yet  it  simply  created  dispeace. 
Men,  too,  severed  from  the  things  of  the  world,  might 
have  been  expected  to  direct  prince  and  peasant  alike. 
Had  the  Orders  been  wise  spiritual  Brotherhoods,  they 
might  have  continued  the  missionary  labours  of  the 
founders,  and  their  fervour  might  have  created  some- 
thing at  least  of  that  enthusiasm  for  piety  which 
crowned  the  efforts  of  Dominic  and  Francis.  But 
when  the  friars,  in  the  years  of  unimpassioned  faith, 
were  drawn  from  every  class  of  society,  without  test 
of  qualification  for  Christ-like  service,  there  was  no 
method  of  securing  pious  guides  for  the  people. 
Undoubtedly,  among  the  mendicants,  even  when 
spiritual  degradation  was  the  general  mark,  were  to  be 
found  the  best  religious  teachers  and  guides  within  the 
Church.  Yet  it  must  be  asserted  that,  as  a  rule,  the 
inquisitors  used  their  powers  not  to  assist  individual 
souls  in  righteousness,  but  to  spy  into  the  ways 
of  families,  to  fashion  the  conduct  of  men  and 
women,  so  that  the  Church  might  be  outwardly 
reverenced  and  themselves  obeyed.  This  domestic 
superintendence  made  them  detested  among  laymen, 
as  they  were  hated  by  the  priests,  into  whose  ways 
they  inquired. 

The  thoroughness  and  extent  of  the  work  of  the 
inquisitors  may  be  discovered  from  the  fact  that  in 
1245  and  1246  examinations  were  held  in  six  hundred 
places  in  Languedoc  ;  and  in  a  single  locality,  to  take 
an  example,  four  hundred  and  twenty  cases  were  tried. 


152  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


In  the  Courts,  in  addition  to  heretics,  magicians, 
sorcerers,  and  soothsayers  were  tried  ;  and  the  examina- 
tions and  punishments  were  the  same  for  the  accused, 
whatever  the  charge  preferred.  The  use  of  torture 
in  criminal  examinations  was  extended  by  Innocent  iv. 
to  heresy  trials.  In  1252  he  enjoined  civil  magistrates 
in  Lombardy  and  Tuscany  to  employ  torture  for  ex- 
tracting from  prisoners  confessions  of  guilt  and  also 
information  regarding  their  associates. 

Mosheim  gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  application 
of  torture.  "  The  torture,"  he  says,  "  was  by  the  rope, 
by  water,  and  by  fire.  The  rope  was  passed  under  the 
arms,  which  were  tied  behind  the  back  of  the  accused. 
By  this  rope  he  was  drawn  up  into  the  air  with  a 
pulley,  and  there  left  to  swing  for  a  time,  and  then 
suddenly  let  fall  to  within  half  a  foot  of  the  ground, 
by  the  shock  of  which  fall  all  his  joints  were 
dislocated.  If  he  still  confessed  nothing,  the  torture 
by  water  was  tried.  After  making  him  drink  a  great 
quantity  of  water  he  was  laid  upon  a  hollowed  bench  ; 
across  the  middle  of  this  bench  a  stick  of  timber  passed 
which  kept  the  body  of  the  offender  suspended,  and 
caused  him  most  intense  pain  in  the  backbone.  The 
most  cruel  torture  was  that  by  fire,  in  which  his  feet, 
being  smeared  with  grease,  etc.,  were  directed  towards 
a  hot  fire,  and  the  soles  of  them  left  to  burn  till  he 
would  confess.  Each  of  these  tortures  was  continued 
as  long  as  in  the  judgment  of  the  physician  of  the 
Inquisition  the  man  was  able  to  endure  them.  He 
might  now  confess  what  he  would,  but  still  the  torture 
would  be  repeated,  first  to  discover  the  object  and 
motive  of  the  acknowledged  ofience,  and  then  to  make 
him  expose  his  accomplices.    If  when  tortured  he 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  153 


confessed  nothing,  many  snares  were  laid  to  elicit 
from  him  unconsciously  his  offence.  The  conclusion 
was  that  the  accused,  when  he  seemed  to  have  satisfied 
the  judges,  was  condemned  according  to  the  measure 
of  his  offence  to  death,  or  to  perpetual  imprisonment, 
or  to  the  galleys,  or  to  be  scourged;  and  he  was 
delivered  over  to  the  civil  authorities,  who  were 
entreated  to  spare  his  life,  as  the  Church  never 
thirsted  for  blood ;  but  yet  they  would  experience 
persecution  if  they  did  not  carry  the  decisions  of  the 
Court  into  execution." 

By  a  strange  pretence  the  cleric  who  did  not  plead 
for  mercy  for  a  prisoner  became  subject  to  ecclesiastical 
censure.  The  custom  was  of  ancient  origin,  traceable 
to  the  time  when  it  was  not  lawful  for  a  Christian 
to  be  the  direct  or  indirect  cause  of  a  man's  death. 
The  rule  had  to  be  relaxed  for  laymen,  but  was  con- 
tinued for  clerics,  who  delivered  the  accused  to 
punishment,  and  went  through  the  form  of  asking 
for  mercy.  Boniface  viii.  decided  that  bishops  must 
give  over  culprits  to  the  secular  arm,  knowing  at 
the  same  time  they  would  make  appeals  for  pity  which 
would  be  futile ;  and,  long  afterwards.  Innocent  viii. 
excommunicated  any  magistrate  who  hindered  the 
execution  of  a  sentence  for  which  a  plea  of  mitigation 
of  punishment  had  been  tendered. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Dante  on  one  occasion 
appeared  before  a  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition.  The 
story,  which  is  more  than  doubtful,  is  that  the 
Franciscans,  annoyed  with  what  was  said  in  the 
Commedia  regarding  the  degeneracy  of  the  Order, 
brought  him  to  trial.  He  asked  time  to  prepare  a 
defence,   and   in  a  few  hours  presented  the  poem. 


154  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


"  Dante's  Confession  of  Faith."  When  it  was  read  he 
was  at  once  acquitted.  The  authorship  of  the  poem, 
however,  is  as  doubtful  as  the  truth  of  the  story. 

Wherever  they  appeared  the  inquisitors  made  papal 
authority  paramount  and  the  pope's  name  familiar; 
but  they  also  made  that  authority  irksome  and  that 
name  greatly  to  be  feared.  The  idea  of  Roman 
supremacy  was  intruded  into  family  life.  Hilde- 
brand,  seeing  spiritual  independence  violated  by 
imperial  hands,  determined  to  obtain  freedom ;  and,  in 
the  strife  with  Henry,  tasting  the  pleasure  of  political 
power,  desired  to  secure  lordship  over  all  princes. 
Now,  after  Innocent  ill.  had  been  lord-paramount  of 
the  West,  his  successors  were  sending  their  servants 
into  every  house ;  and,  making  their  power  real,  caused 
themselves  to  be  feared,  and  not  seldom  detested, 
vice-gerents  of  God  though  they  were  styled.  The 
mendicants,  in  their  first  years,  carried  glad  tidings 
to  multitudes,  and  reverence  was  paid  to  him  who, 
professing  to  be  Christ's  vicar,  was  doing  His  work. 
In  the  years  when  their  piety  was  corrupted  they 
continued  to  declare  the  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  over  all  Christendom,  over  all  princes  and  all 
prelates ;  but  they  could  not  inspire  respect  for  the 
man  who  claimed  to  be  the  representative  of  Christ. 
And  when  the  Roman  power  was  embodied  in 
inquisitors,  and  the  pope's  messengers  were  spies  and 
then  judges,  liberty  was  lost,  family  peace  was  ruined, 
and  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  abhorred. 

Hated  though  they  were,  the  inquisitors  were  eager 
for  their  tragic  mission,  careless  of  danger  and  ready 
for  any  death  which  could  be  hailed  as  martyrdom. 
Their  papal  commission  did  not  protect  them  when 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  155 


men  in  their  wrath  rose  up  tagainst  them,  heedless  of 
the  quarter  from  which  they  had  come.  And  some- 
times this  wrath  was  furious,  meaning  danger  to  the 
oppressors.  As  early  as  1233  two  Dominicans  sent 
to  search  for  heretics  in  Cordes  were  slain;  and  in 
Narbonne,  in  1235,  there  was  a  rising  in  which  the 
Dominicans  were  driven  from  the  city  and  their 
convent  sacked. 

A  dramatic  incident  occurred  in  1235,  illustrating 
the  fervour  of  the  inquisitors  and  the  obedience  of  the 
friars.  Guillem  Arnauld,  in  his  pursuit  of  heretics, 
summoned  twelve  citizens  of  Toulouse  to  appear  for 
examination  regarding  their  faith.  The  men  happened 
to  be  citizens  of  repute,  and  instead  of  obeying  procured 
a  magisterial  order  to  the  inquisitor  to  leave  the  city. 
Arnauld  in  turn  would  not  depart,  and  was  ejected.  A 
violent  quarrel  ensued,  but  his  purpose  was  not  to  be 
thwarted,  and  after  some  weeks  he  requested  the 
Dominican  prior  of  Toulouse  to  send  messengers  to 
intimate  to  the  rebellious  citizens  that  they  must 
appear  at  Carcassonne.  The  prior  did  not  hesitate, 
but,  causing  the  convent  bell  to  be  tolled  and  the 
friars  to  be  assembled,  addressed  them,  saying: 
"Brethren,  rejoice,  for  I  must  send  four  of  you 
through  martyrdom  to  the  throne  of  the  Most  High. 
Such  are  the  commands  of  our  brother,  Guillem  the 
Inquisitor,  and  whosoever  obeys  them  will  be  slain  on 
the  spot,  as  threatened  by  the  consuls.  Let  those  who 
are  ready  to  die  for  Christ  ask  pardon."  Every  friar 
present  threw  himself  on  the  ground  to  ask  for  pardon, 
and  then  rose,  offering  himself  to  death.  In  the  sequel 
no  one  suffered  injury.  Arnauld,  however,  was  reserved 
for  a  death  which  his  friends  counted  martyrdom,  and 


156  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


which  might  well  be  reckoned  the  just  reward  of 
incessant  cruelty.  He  and  zealots  like  him  pursued 
their  ways,  as  ready  to  die  as  to  kill,  and  the  guilt 
fastened  to  the  slayer  of  a  cleric  alone  restrained  the 
hands  of  men  constantly  tempted  to  revenge.  In  1242 
Arnauld,  with  certain  companions,  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  among  them,  arrived  at  Avignonet,  and 
entered  a  castle  where  they  were  to  hold  a  Court. 
The  chief  man  of  the  district,  Raymond  d'Alfaro,  the 
representative  of  Count  Raymond,  had  his  master's 
cause  to  avenge.  He  arranged  a  plot  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  inquisitors,  who  one  and  all,  when  darkness 
had  fallen,  were  slain  in  the  hall  of  the  castle.  The 
mace  of  d'Alfaro  crushed  the  skull  of  Arnauld. 

The  career  of  St.  Peter  Martyr  shows  the  inquisitor 
in  the  unusual  character  of  a  saint.  Piero  da  Verona, 
born  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  was 
the  son  of  a  heretic.  From  his  earliest  years,  the  story 
runs,  he  showed  extraordinary  attachment  to  the 
orthodox  creed,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
in  1221  he  became  a  member  of  the  Dominican  Order. 
As  a  friar  he  was  guiltless  of  sin,  and  also  as  an 
inquisitor,  and  in  his  conduct  he  exhibited  all  the 
virtues  of  the  Christian  life.  Miracles  were  at  his 
command  to  aid  him  in  his  work  of  conversion.  In 
1233  he  became  inquisitor  in  Milan,  and  no  long 
time  elapsed  till  his  labours  were  crowned  by  the 
burning  of  several  heretics.  So  unwearied  was  he  in 
spiritual  toil  that  his  persecutions  roused  a  tumult  in 
Milan,  in  1242,  which  was  almost  destructive  of  the 
city.  From  Milan  he  removed  to  Florence,  where  the 
Inquisition  may  be  said  to  have  been  founded,  and 
where  the  conspicuous  effect  was  the  increase  of  heresy. 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  157 


Piero  was  delecrated  to  assist  Fra  Rufjofieri,  who,  enthusi- 
astic  though  he  was,  was  soon  eclipsed  by  the  stranger. 
Piero's  preaching  attracted  crowds,  and  he  was  success- 
ful in  organising  a  special  guard  of  nobles  for  the 
protection  of  the  inquisitors.  The  heretics,  as  oppon- 
ents of  the  Church,  were  under  the  care  of  the 
Emperor  Frederick  ii.,  and  they  also  were  organised. 
Armed  bands  were  not  wont  to  keep  the  peace.  Tw^o 
battles  were  fought  in  Florence,  in  both  of  which 
Piero  as  captain  was  victorious,  and  heresy  and 
imperialism  alike  were  for  a  time  suppressed. 
Frederick  11.  died  in  1250,  and  in  the  following  year 
the  pope,  rejoicing  in  the  death  of  his  great  opponent, 
w^ho  for  political  ends  protected  the  heretics,  com- 
manded the  Inquisition  to  increase  its  vigour.  Orders 
were  sent  to  Piero  to  proceed  to  Cremona,  where,  and 
afterwards  at  Milan,  he  laboured  so  unceasingly  that 
a  plot  was  organised  for  his  murder.  Assassins  were 
hired,  and  on  a  day  when  he  was  journeying  with  a 
single  companion  he  was  set  upon,  and  his  head 
crushed  with  a  blow.  Piero  w^as  a  martyr,  and  before 
a  year  was  a  canonised  saint.  Reverence  for  his 
memory  did  not  die.  In  1340  the  body  was  translated 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Eustorgius  in  Milan,  where  a 
magnificent  tomb  had  been  raised  for  its  reception ; 
and  in  1586  Sixtus  v.  spoke  of  him  as  the  second 
head  of  the  Inquisition,  and  styled  him  its  first 
martyr.  Titian  and  Guido  each  selected  the  martyr- 
dom as  a  subject  for  his  art. 

Conrad  of  Marburg,  the  confessor  of  St.  Elizabeth, 
was  a  Dominican,  according  to  certain  writers, 
though  the  statement  is  doubtful.  Whatever  his 
ecclesiastical  station  may  have  been,  he  was  pro- 


158  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


bably  the  most  fanatical  of  all  the  inquisitors  who 
employed  wanton  cruelty  for  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints,  such  as  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  and  sheer 
brutality  for  purifying  the  Church  from  heretics. 
He  attempted  to  establish  the  Inquisition  in  Germany, 
but  the  Germans,  with  love  of  freedom,  would  suffer 
no  tribunal  governed  by  Rome  to  be  erected  in  their 
midst,  and  some  of  them,  nobles  they  were,  roused  by 
his  atrocities,  murdered  him  as  an  oppressor.  He 
thought  like  a  madman,  and  acted  as  a  fool,  heedless 
of  the  warnings  of  the  German  prelates;  and  there 
were  patriots  to  free  their  country  from  his  unbridled 
fury. 

The  Spanish  Inquisition,  forming  one  of  the  darkest 
chapters  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  was  entrusted 
to  the  Dominicans.  Under  the  influence  of  Thomas  de 
Torquemada,  Queen  Isabella  applied  to  Sixtus  iv.  to 
establish  the  Inquisition  in  Castile.  A  papal  bull  of 
institution,  published  in  1478,  decreed  that  the 
members  of  the  tribunal  should  be  chosen  by  the 
sovereigns,  to  whom  all  confiscated  properties  were 
to  be  given.  In  1483  Torquemada  himself  was 
appointed  chief  inquisitor  of  Castile,  and,  a  few  years 
later,  of  Aragon. 

Every  year,  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  the  clergy 
were  required  to  rouse  the  people  to  give  information 
against  all  persons  suspected  of  heresy.  Spies  were 
employed;  false  witnesses  found  their  vocation; 
torture  was  used  to  wring  confessions. 

In  1481  the  Spanish  holocaust  began  when  six 
victims  perished  at  Seville,  and  before  ten  months 
had  passed  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  persons 
were  burnt  in  that  city.    In  a  few  years  the  victims 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  159 


throughout  the  country  numbered  two  thousand, 
while  thousands  of  men,  after  fines,  confiscation  of 
property,  loss  of  civil  rights  and  even  of  personal 
liberty,  were  restored  to  the  Church.  The  Jews,  not 
an  insignificant  portion  of  the  population,  suffered 
terribly.  Some  of  them  had  voluntarily  accepted 
Christianity,  and  not  a  few  had  attained  high  position 
in  the  State.  The  Christianised  Jews  were  the  special 
objects  of  Torquemada's  suspicion,  and  the  men  who 
remained  true  to  their  national  faith  were  treated  as 
dangerous  enemies  of  the  Cross.  A  general  order  was 
passed  by  the  sovereigns,  in  1492,  that  all  Jews  must 
be  baptized  or,  if  steadfast  in  their  religion,  quit  the 
country.  It  has  been  reckoned  that  one  hundred 
thousand  Jews  left  Spain,  while  as  many  remained 
and  were  baptized.  The  unfortunate  people  suffered 
that  the  Christian  Church  might  be  purified  in  the 
eyes  of  Torquemada.  and  his  friars. 

A  contemporary  painting  shows  a  procession  of  Jews 
and  Jewesses  to  the  stake,  during  the  festivities  in 
Madrid,  in  1680,  which  attended  the  marriage  of 
Charles  ii.  One  of  the  victims  of  1680  was  a  beautiful 
Jewish  girl,  in  her  seventeenth  year.  Passing  to  the 
place  of  burning,  she  cried  to  the  queen,  who  was  a 
spectator :  "  Great  queen,  is  not  your  presence  able  to 
bring  me  some  comfort  under  my  misery  ?  Consider 
my  youth,  and  that  I  am  condemned  for  a  religion 
which  I  have  sucked  in  with  my  mother's  milk." 
The  queen  did  not  answer,  turning  away  her  eyes. 

The  atrocities  of  Torquemada's  rule  increased,  and 
Rome  again  and  again  interfered,  though  with  partial 
effect.  The  Dominicans  professed  to  be  obedient 
servants,  but  they  were  not  easily  controlled.  The 


i6o  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Inquisition  continued  as  an  ecclesiastical  Court  in 
Spain  till  the  year  1813,  when  it  was  finally  abolished. 
Long  before  that  year,  however,  the  tribunal  had 
become  harmless. 

In  Spain  there  was  a  custom  which  illustrated  the 
wanton  cruelty  tincturing  the  orthodox  theology. 
The  victim  of  the  Holy  Ofiice  was  led  to  the  flames, 
dressed  in  garments  covered  with  representations  of 
devils  and  scenes  of  torture,  and  these  were  intended 
to  show  what  the  Most  High  had  prepared  for  the 
enemies  of  the  faith.  It  was  everywhere  the  same 
teaching,  that  the  earthly  was  the  prelude  to  the 
eternal  punishment.  "  It  is  horrible/'  says  Lecky,  "  it 
is  appalling,  to  reflect  what  the  mother,  the  wife,  the 
sister,  the  daughter  of  the  heretic  must  have  suflered 
from  this  teaching.  She  saw  the  body  of  him  who 
was  dearer  to  her  than  life,  dislocated  and  writhing  and 
quivering  with  pain ;  she  watched  the  slow  fire  creep- 
ing from  limb  to  limb  till  it  had  swallowed  him  in  a 
sheet  of  agony,  and  when  at  last  the  scream  of  anguish 
had  died  away  and  the  tortured  body  was  at  rest, 
she  was  told  that  all  this  was  acceptable  to  the  God 
she  served,  and  was  but  a  faint  image  of  the  sufierings 
He  would  inflict  through  eternity  upon  the  dead." 

The  Inquisition  had  most  noted  apologists,  among 
whom  was  Thomas  Aquinas;  but  it  may  be  safely 
affirmed  that  Francis,  if  not  Dominic,  would  have  con- 
demned its  practices.  The  association  of  the  Minorites 
with  persecution  and  cruelty  was  the  sign  of  radical 
change  in  their  ideal.  Imitation  of  the  life  of  Christ 
was  for  Francis  the  method  of  salvation,  and  in  that 
imitation  was  the  winning  of  sinners  to  holiness  by 
the  charm  of  love.    He  was  content  to  be  in  the 


MENDICANTS  AND  THE  INQUISITION  i6i 


Church,  though  alien  to  its  paramount  aims,  so  long 
as  he  enjoyed  liberty  for  the  labours  which  charity 
inspired.  It  is  strange  indeed  that  with  his  courage 
he  did  not  assail  Innocent  iii.  for  the  violence  of  the 
crusade,  which  the  pope  himself  justified  by  the 
declaration :  "  He  that  taketh  away  the  faith  stealeth 
the  life;  for  the  just  shall  live  by  faith."  Francis, 
however,  was  the  director  of  a  mission,  not  an  accuser 
of  dignitaries  or  a  critic  of  papal  plans.  The  secret 
of  his  power  was  charity,  which  could  not  contradict 
itself  through  the  atrocities  of  an  Inquisition.  When, 
therefore,  the  Minorites  engaged  in  cruelties,  they 
showed  themselves  fallen  away  from  the  high  purposes 
of  their  founder. 

The  Dominicans,  too,  as  the  stern  ministers  of  the 
Inquisition,  forsook  the  aims  of  their  saint.  Dominic 
was  concerned  to  have  religion  taught  so  that  men 
might  not  be  carried  about  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine,  and  that  wanderers  might  be  brought  back 
to  recognised  beliefs  and  established  customs.  The 
force  he  desired  to  employ  was  intellectual  or  spiritual. 
Persuasion  rather  than  coercion  was  his  method. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  the  persecution  of  heretics 
by  the  mendicants  may  be  understood,  though  never 
justified.  Their  teaching  in  the  days  of  their  religious 
strength  stimulated  men  to  think,  and  to  know  them- 
selves as  responsible  beings.  In  the  revival  of  thought, 
when  spiritual  interests  were  awakened,  there  was 
danger  to  the  dogma.  Heresy  must  not  be  suffered 
to  attack  the  truth,  of  which  the  Church  was  guardian  ; 
and  they  who  had  made  attacks  possible  must  prevent 
them.  Humbert  de  Romanis,  a  noted  Dominican, 
declared  that,  "even  if  the  pope  were  a  heretic,  he 
1 1 


i62  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


should  be  punished."  An  apologist  may  plead  that 
the  mendicants  guarded  the  sacred  possessions  of  the 
Church,  persuaded  that  the  sanctity  of  their  mission, 
the  honesty  of  their  purpose,  and  the  worth  of  the 
dogma  justified  their  use  of  cruelty. 

It  would  be  idle  to  estimate  the  injury  to  religion 
had  there  been  no  check  to  religious  vagaries ;  idle, 
too,  on  the  other  hand,  to  value  the  boon  had  freedom 
of  thought  been  permitted.  Yet  it  is  to  be  asserted 
that  had  there  been  liberty  to  try  the  things  of  religion 
the  dogma  would  not  have  become  a  dead  mass,  and 
the  Reformation,  as  a  revolt  against  an  irrational 
authority,  might  not  have  taken  place. 


CHAPTER  VII 


The  Mendicants  and  Scholasticism 

The  mendicants,  attracting  good  and  clever  men  to 
their  Brotherhoods,  gave  masters  to  the  different  pro- 
vinces of  activity;  and  an  influence  such  as  they 
manifested  in  piety  and  politics  was  exercised  in 
philosophy  and  theology.  An  Aristotelian  renascence 
was  aflecting  thought  at  the  period  of  the  foundation 
•of  the  Orders,  and  its  significance  was  not  to  be 
neglected  by  defenders  of  the  Church.  Philosophy 
might  attack  and  injure  religion,  and  could  not  be 
ignored.  Theology,  too,  required  rational  treatment 
at  a  time  when  ancient  ideas  were  contrasted  with 
Christian,  and  received  no  slight  commendation. 

Before  the  appearing  of  the  friars,  speculation  had 
been  deemed  hostile  to  religion ;  and  the  new  Aristo- 
telians, the  Arabic  philosophers,  recognising  no  priestly 
authority,  drew  to  their  side  many  who  cherished  free- 
dom that  they  might  follow  after  truth.  This  freedom 
was  counted  dangerous,  but  it  might  be  kept  in  check 
were  philosophy  assigned  the  task  of  protecting  religion 
by  vindicating  the  dogma.  The  purpose  of  the  thinkers 
in  the  ranks  of  the  mendicants  was  to  present  in  in- 
tellipfible  form  "  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered 
unto  the  saints,"  and,  as  this  aim  demanded  full  and 
thorough  knowledge,  they  turned  with  enthusiasm  to 


i64  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


learning  and  with  eagerness  to  speculation.  The  thir- 
teenth century,  which  witnessed  the  changed  and 
friendly  attitude  of  the  Church  to  philosophy,  is  to 
be  reckoned  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  thought. 

The  schools  founded  by  Charlemain  gave  an  impulse 
to  the  education  of  the  West.  Logic  was  fostered,  and, 
where  there  were  thinkers,  esteem  for  the  name  of 
Aristotle.  Churchmen  from  the  first  had  appreciated 
the  need  of  logic  for  the  defence  of  the  faith,  but  from 
the  second  century,  it  is  said,  had  looked  on  Aristotle 
as  an  enemy  of  Christianity,  and  on  philosophical 
speculation  as  destructive  of  orthodox  belief.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  two  noted  heretics  of  that  century 
styled  him  their  teacher.  The  Church's  attitude  to 
philosophy  was  generally  hostile,  and  was  maintained 
down  to  the  age  when  Abelard  disturbed  the  tranquillity 
of  the  pious  Bernard. 

By  long  tradition  philosophy  was  thus  associated 
with  heresy,  and  yet  the  mendicants  braved  this  tradi- 
tion. They  did  more,  however,  than  merely  cast  aside 
a  prejudice.  Avicenna's  adaptation  of  Aristotle,  and 
the  interpretations  of  Averroes  and  other  Arabic  com- 
mentators, were  rendered  into  Latin ;  and  of  these  the 
mendicants,  contrary  to  the  fashion  of  churchmen,  made 
an  intelligent  and  exhaustive  study.  Aquinas,  too,  with 
a  scholar's  instinct  and  a  philosopher's  ambition  for 
truth,  caused  translations  to  be  made  directly  from  the 
Greek.  By  the  labours  of  the  mendicants  the  reputa- 
tion of  Aristotle  was  changed,  and  his  influence  trans- 
ferred to  the  defence  of  the  faith. 

While  Aristotle  was  greatly  suspected  by  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church  and  the  guardians  of  the  dogma,  Plato, 
with  his  idealism,  was  not  alien  to  Christian  faith 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  165 


setting  towards  the  unseen.  Platonism,  through  the 
Jewish-Alexandrian  schools,  left  an  impress  on  the 
New  Testament,  and,  later,  affected  directly  the  scien- 
tific presentation  of  the  dogma.  Neo-Platonism,  too, 
was  not  wholly  divergent  from  Christian  doctrine  when, 
for  instance,  it  sought  to  bring  God  and  man  into  a 
unity  of  thought  such  as  was  implied  in  the  Incarnation. 
A  lasting  impulse  to  the  study  of  Plato  was  given  when 
Augustine  made  use  of  fragments  of  his  teaching.  It 
was,  however,  the  controversy  respecting  universals 
which  made  Plato  and  Aristotle  prominent  in  the  eyes 
of  churchmen.  Boethius,  translating  from  Porphyry, 
wrote :  "  Next  concerning  genera  and  species,  the 
question  indeed,  whether  they  have  a  substantial  ex- 
istence, or  whether  they  consist  in  bare  intellectual 
concepts  only,  or  whether  if  they  have  a  substantial 
existence,  they  are  corporeal  or  incorporeal,  and 
whether  they  are  separable  from  sensible  things  or 
are  only  in  those  things,  and  subsisting  about  them, 
I  shall  forbear  to  determine."  The  problem  thus 
stated  was  not  simply  one  of  philosophy,  as  was  shown 
in  the  controversy  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence.  John  Scotus  Erigena,  the  philosopher  of  the 
ninth  century,  in  the  progress  of  this  controversy,  took 
the  position  of  champion  of  realism,  a  Platonist  after  a 
fashion,  but  none  the  less  his  freedom  of  speculation 
alarmed  the  orthodox.  He  contended  that  the  true 
religion  is  the  true  philosophy,  and  the  true  philosophy 
the  true  religion.  This  identity  made  the  pious  suspect 
Erigena  and  tremble  for  the  faith,  though  he  named  the 
name  of  Plato.  Moreover,  the  hostility  to  philosophy 
increased  when,  with  its  theories  of  universals,  it 
examined  the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  The 


i66  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


theologians  were  alarmed  when  their  assertions  were 
tested  by  reason. 

The  tenth  century,  pre-eminently  the  dark  age,  has 
been  described  by  Baronius  as  a  time  when  Christ  was 
asleep  in  the  ship.  Gerbert,  Pope  Sylvester  ii.,  was  a 
student  of  physical  science,  and  in  the  superstition 
rampant  at  the  close  of  that  age  he  was  judged  to 
be  in  league  with  Satan.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
millennium  of  Christian  history  thought  was  re- 
awakened, and  once  more  the  problem  of  universals 
attracted  notice.  Nominalism,  at  that  time  traced  to 
the  Aristotelian  teaching,  was  set  forth  as  the  theory 
that  our  knowledge  of  things  is  given  through  the 
senses ;  and  opponents  were  able  to  show  it  dangerous 
to  religion,  because  destructive  of  such  doctrines  as  the 
Incarnation  and  the  Real  Presence.  Realism,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  used  to  defend  these  very  doctrines. 
Aristotle  and  Plato  were  once  more  put  forward  as  the 
opponent  and  defender  of  the  dogma  ;  while  discussions 
passed  into  contests  between  reason  and  faith,  freedom 
and  authority. 

Anselm,  distinguished  in  his  own  age  and  not  yet 
forgotten  for  his  subtle  thought,  used  the  weapons  of 
a  philosopher  within  the  domain  of  theology.  His 
saying,  Credo  ut  intelligam,  established  his  orthodoxy, 
and  presented  a  method  to  thought ;  yet  the  effort  to 
understand,  though  following  belief,  quickened  specu- 
lation and  endangered  faith.  His  cherished  purpose, 
however,  was  to  verify  faith  that  it  might  become 
truth  for  the  intellect,  and  his  trust  in  the  divine 
character  of  the  dogma,  which  prescribed  the  content 
of  faith,  made  him  fearless  in  his  speculative  mission. 

Anselm,  in  part  responsible  for  the  changing  attitude 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  167 


of  the  Church  to  philosophy,  did  not  carry  the  method 
of  free,  scientific  inquiry  to  theology,  as  the  famous 
Abelard  professed  to  do.  The  dogma,  indeed,  suffered 
nothing  at  the  liands  of  Abelard  :  his  speculations  were 
puslied  to  no  extravagant  length  and  directed  to  no 
fantastic  topic,  yet  he  was  zealously  watched  as  the 
champion  of  freedom  of  thought.  In  his  theory  of 
conceptualism  there  was  nothing  to  alarm  the  most 
prudent  guardian  of  the  faith.  Battles  of  words,  how- 
ever, were  dear  to  him,  and  there  was  no  sacred  place 
of  belief  guarded  against  his  entrance.  He  did  not 
attack  the  Church's  teaching,  but  sought  a  guarantee 
of  truth  higher  than  the  mere  authority  of  a  council  or 
pope.  The  dogma  must  be  tried  by  reason,  and  when 
he  examined  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  he  gave 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux  his  opportunity  to  crush  him 
under  ecclesiastical  censure. 

These  two  men  represented  authority  and  reason. 
Bernard  was  a  dogmatist.  The  faith  had  been  en- 
trusted to  official  guardians,  and  must  be  preserved. 
Abelard  would  try  it,  to  see  that  it  was  the  truth  of 
God.  Their  contrast  bears  yet  a  further  significance. 
The  one  stood  for  piety,  the  other  for  science;  or 
again,  the  one  represented  mystic,  the  other  scholastic 
theology.  Abelard's  strife  was  not  in  vain,  and  he 
prepared  the  way  for  the  mendicants,  who  in  due  time, 
if  they  did  not  assert  the  supreme  right  of  reason,  re- 
cognised its  use  in  the  work  of  systematising  and 
explaining  the  dogma.  Peter  the  Lombard,  marking 
a  reaction  from  Abelard,  though  proving  his  influence, 
helped  ?n  a  limited  degree  the  progress  of  theological 
thought.  Abelard  had  attempted  to  systematise  in  his 
Theologia.  and  had  appealed  to  the  Fathers  in  his  Sic 


i68  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


et  Non,  setting  one  against  the  other,  and  accepting  or 
rejecting  their  teaching  at  his  pleasure.  The  Lombard, 
on  his  part,  collected  testimonies,  harmonised  them,  and 
used  them  for  a  defence  of  the  dogma.  He  was  pro- 
gressive, in  so  far  as  he  appealed  not  to  the  finding  of 
a  council  or  pope  or  to  the  word  of  a  dictator  such  as 
Bernard,  but  to  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  best 
thinkers  of  the  Christian  ages.  He  would  not  stifle 
the  clamour  of  reason :  he  would  satisfy  it,  in  a 
fashion  not  dangerous  to  the  Church.  Authority 
triumphed,  while  a  semblance  of  freedom  was 
granted. 

The  Lombard,  in  spite  of  his  orthodoxy,  was  opposed 
from  different  directions.  Walter  of  St.  Victor  repre- 
sented those  who  rejected  philosophy  as  dangerous  to 
religion ;  while  Joachim  of  Flora  prophesied,  and  many 
believed,  that  a  time  would  come  when  contemplative 
piety  would  conquer,  crushing  speculation  and  destroy- 
ing doubt. 

The  thirteenth  century  was  an  age  of  activity.  In 
the  pontificate  of  Innocent  ill.  the  Latin  kingdom  of 
Constantinople  was  established  ;  and,  while  it  endured, 
certain  scholars  of  the  West  obtained  facilities  for 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  Greek  and  gaining  acquaint- 
ance with  ancient  manuscripts.  Before  the  establish- 
ment of  that  kingdom,  however,  there  were  indications 
of  the  renascence  of  thought,  traced  to  the  influence  of 
the  Arabic  commentators  on  Aristotle.  Heresy,  as  by 
use  and  wont,  accompanied  this  revival  of  speculation. 
A  system  of  pantheism,  based,  it  was  said,  on  Aristo- 
telianism  and  Neo  -  Platonism,  was  enunciated  by 
Amalric  of  Bene  and  David  of  Dinant.  In  1204  the 
university  of  Paris  condemned  the  doctrine,  and,  after 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  169 

an  appeal  to  Rome,  Amalric  was  compelled  to  retract 
his  teaching.  In  1210,  by  an  order  of  the  Synod  of 
Paris,  the  works  of  David  of  Dinant  were  burnt,  and 
at  the  fourth  Lateran  Council  those  who  professed  his 
doctrine  were  condemned  as  heretics.  In  the  year  of 
that  Council,  1215,  a  papal  legate  prohibited  the  study 
of  Aristotle  in  the  university  of  Paris ;  and  so  late  as 
1231  Gregory  ix.  required  that  certain  writings,  among 
these  the  physical  books  of  Aristotle,  should  not  be 
read  "  until  they  shall  have  been  examined  and  purged 
from  all  heresy."  A  few  years  later,  when  the  mendi- 
cants had  appeared,  works  of  Aristotle  were  among  the 
text-books  in  use  in  Paris,  and  the  xA-ristotelian  meta- 
physic  was  employed  in  the  service  of  orthodoxy, 
Aristotle  himself  was  no  longer  hated  as  the  enemy, 
but  honoured  as  the  forerunner  of  Christ. 

The  first  of  the  mendicants  to  render  important 
service  to  theology,  by  the  aid  of  philosophy,  was 
Alexander  of  Hales.  A  Gloucestershire  man,  he 
wandered  to  Paris,  where,  after  a  career  as  student, 
he  continued  to  teach  till  his  death  in  1245.  In  1222 
he  joined  the  Franciscans,  and,  refusing  to  renounce 
his  title  of  doctor,  was  the  first  of  his  Order  to  bear 
the  dignity.  He  was  styled  Doctor  Irrefragabilis,  and, 
according  to  some,  Theologorum  Monarcha.  In  his 
chief  work,  Summa  Universce  Theologice,  God,  creation, 
redemption,  the  sacraments  were  among  the  subjects 
treated.  The  book,  though  based  on  the  Lombard's 
Sentences,  was  more  than  a  commentary.  Using  the 
materials  of  the  Lombard,  he  attempted  a  scientific 
treatment  of  theology,  and  introduced  ideas  from  the 
metaphysic  of  Aristotle  and  methods  from  the  logic. 
He  was  the  first  churchman  to  show  an  extensiv^e 


I70  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


knowledge  of  Aristotle,  and  to  employ  it  in  the 
service  of  orthodoxy. 

John  Fidanza,  or  Bonaventiira,  as  he  is  generally 
styled,  while  aiming  at  no  scientific  presentment  of 
the  dogma,  illustrated  the  new  position  of  the  Church 
in  relation  to  philosophy.  He  was  born  in  1221,  and, 
according  to  tradition,  owed  his  name  to  St.  Francis, 
who,  after  working  in  him  a  miraculous  cure,  gazed  on 
him  and  exclaimed,  O  buona  ventura !  Joining  the 
Minorites  in  his  twenty-second  year,  he  was  chosen  in 
1256  general  of  the  Order.  When  he  died  in  1274  he 
was  Bishop  of  Albano  and  a  cardinal  of  the  Church  ; 
and,  tradition  says,  he  had  refused  the  archbishopric  of 
York  and,  highest  of  all,  the  papal  dignity.  Tw^o 
centuries  later  he  was  canonised  by  Pope  Sixtus  iv. 
It  was  said,  in  reference  to  his  saintliness,  that  "  all 
men  were  born  with  original  sin  except  Bonaventura." 

The  life  of  Francis  by  Bonaventura  is  the  biography 
of  a  loving  disciple ;  and,  charmed  by  it,  Dante  drew 
the  picture  of  the  saint  in  the  Paradiso.  The  beauty 
of  his  Latin  hymns  captivated  admirers  of  literature, 
and  touched  the  hearts  of  the  pious ;  and  in  majestic 
verses  Bonaventura  manifested  the  religion  which 
found  help  for  action  and  ease  for  trouble  in  con- 
templation of  the  cross  of  Christ. 

Thus  did  he  sing  of  that  cross — 

"  Quum  quiescas  aut  lal)oras, 
Quando  rides,  quando  ploras, 
Doles  sive  guadeas, 
Quando  vadis,  quando  venis, 
In  solatiis  in  pa-nis 
Crucem  corde  teneas." 

In  his  metaphysic  Bonaventura  was  a  Platonist, 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  171 


after  the  fashion  of  Augustine,  holding  that  ideas  are 
not  in  reriLin  natura,  but  are  thoughts  in  the  divine 
mind,  accordino^  to  which  actual  thino^s  are  formed. 
The  characteristic  of  his  teaching  was  the  doctrine 
of  illumination,  a  metaphysic  of  mysticism.  Reason, 
he  held,  is  able  to  discover  certain  truths,  but  it  is 
throu<rh  illumination  that  what  is  hit^hest  is  known. 
As  the  purpose  of  the  religious  life  is  to  reach  union 
with  God  through  contemplation,  so  the  greatest 
attainment  of  the  intellectual  life  is  knowledge 
acquired  through  illumination.  The  practice  of  the 
Christian  virtues  is  the  necessary  preparation  for 
illumination,  which  further  requires  prayer  with  con- 
templation passing  into  ecstasy.  Mary,  who  sat  at 
the  feet  of  Christ,  and  Francis,  obtained  the  closest 
union  with  the  divine. 

Bonaventura  distinguished  between  the  lumen  in- 
ferius,  the  means  of  sense-perceptions;  the  lumen 
exterius,  which  gives  us  aptitude  for  the  mechanical 
arts  ;  the  lumen  interius,  by  which  philosophical  per- 
ception is  attained ;  and  the  lumen  superius,  which  is 
grace.  This  light  of  grace  reveals,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  sanctifying  virtues;  and,  on  the  other,  shows  us 
universals  in  their  reality  in  God.  A  limit  is  here  set 
to  reason,  and  the  highest  truths  are  placed  beyond 
the  reach  of  ordinary  knowledge. 

A  mystic  is  not  captivated  by  speculation,  but  in 
seeking  a  justification  of  his  system  he  must  turn  to 
philosophy.  Bonaventura,  in  the  very  act  of  demon- 
strating the  imperfection  of  ordinary  knowledge  as  a 
means  of  reaching  the  highest  truth,  turned  for  aid 
to  Aristotle,  while  his  doctrine  of  the  litrht  of  orrace 
showed  an  impress  of  Plato.    Willingly  or  unwillingly. 


172  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


this  Doctor  Seraphicus,  this  apologist  of  the  mystics, 
entered  on  a  rational  demonstration  of  his  theories, 
illustrating  at  once  the  Church's  treatment  of  philo- 
sophy in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  activity  of 
the  mendicants  in  the  realm  of  speculation. 

While  the  Franciscans,  Hales  and  Bonaventura,  were 
employing  philosophy,  the  one  to  strengthen  the  dogma, 
the  other  to  justify  mysticism,  the  Dominicans,  repre- 
sented by  Albertus  Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  were 
christianising  Aristotle,  creating  Christian  Aristotel- 
ianism.  Recognising  the  fascination  exercised  by  Aris- 
totle over  speculative  minds,  and  also  the  advantage 
of  pressing  him  into  the  service  of  the  Church,  they 
adopted  his  philosophy,  having  made  their  own  inter- 
pretation, and  placed  him  as  an  authority  alongside  of 
the  Fathers.  From  the  Fathers  and  Aristotle  baptized 
into  their  faith  they  endeavoured  to  satisfy  every 
objection  to  the  dogma,  thus  giving  to  theology  a  cast 
of  reason.  There  was  danger,  no  doubt,  to  orthodoxy 
when  innumerable  objections  were  stated,  even  while 
they  were  to  be  rejected,  but  there  was  also  the 
Inquisition  to  crush  the  unwary  who  should  attack 
official  truth.  The  dogma  was  to  be  rationalised,  or 
shown  to  be  not  contrary  to  reason,  and  freedom  of 
discussion  was  to  be  allowed.  At  the  same  time,  the 
creed  was  to  be  preserved,  and  not  one  jot  or  tittle 
was  to  pass  away.  The  Dominicans  were  jealous  for 
the  dogma,  as  the  Pharisees  aforetime  for  the  law. 

Albertus,  son  of  Herr  von  Bollstadt,  was  born  at 
Laningen  in  Swabia  in  the  year  1193,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  the  university  of  Padua,  some  say  Pa  via. 
For  ten  years  he  was  a  constant  student  of  Aristotle, 
and  in  1221  or  1223,  under  the  influence  of  Jordan 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  173 


of  Saxony,  entered  the  Dominican  Order  and  began 
the  systematic  study  of  theology.  His  later  life  was 
full  of  varied  work,  as  he  discharged  the  duties  of  a 
professor  in  more  than  one  university,  laboured  as 
provincial  of  his  Order  in  Germany,  and  occupied  the 
high  position  of  Bishop  of  Regensburg.  Apart  from 
his  philosophical  study,  he  earned  the  reputation  of 
being  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time  in  natural 
science,  and  for  his  wide  erudition  was  styled  Magnus, 
and  Doctor  Universalis.  His  nickname,  "  Ape  of  Aris- 
totle," indicated  the  line  of  his  study. 

Albertus,  as  a  commentator  of  Aristotle,  presented 
the  novel  spectacle  of  a  thinker  busying  himself  with 
ideas  outside  the  pale  of  theology,  and  working  without 
fear  of  the  penalties  of  the  Church.  Old  things,  and 
with  them  the  suspicion  of  science,  were  passing  away. 
Before  entering  the  Dominican  Order,  Albertus  had 
made  a  reputation  in  natural  science.  When  he 
became  a  friar  he  turned  to  theology,  but  the  results 
of  his  scientific  investigations  were  gathered  together 
as  a  Summa  Philosophioi  Naturalis,  commonly  styled 
Philosophia  Pauperum,  since  the  intention  was  to 
furnish  the  mendicants  with  a  knowledge  of  Aristotle's 
physics. 

As  a  theologian,  Albertus,  dealing  with  the  problems 
of  the  being  of  God,  creation,  the  soul,  sin,  angels, 
with  the  whole  content  of  theology  exclusive  of  re- 
vealed religion,  showed  himself  the  typical  scholastic 
rationalising  the  dogma.  Aristotle,  no  longer  the  enemy, 
was  the  forerunner  of  Christ ;  and  the  function  of 
philosophy,  of  Aristotelianism,  was  to  set  forth  in 
system  the  content  of  theology,  and  to  demonstrate 
the  rationality  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church.  Revealed 


174  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


religion  came  within  the  sphere  of  philosophy  when 
it  was  shown  to  be  above  but  not  contrary  to  reason. 
Seeing  clearly  that  the  process  of  rationalising  must  be 
confined  to  Christianity  as  natural  religion,  he  placed 
revealed  religion  outside  any  possible  philosophical 
system.  Truth  to  which  the  philosopher  attains  is  also 
the  possession  of  the  theologian,  but  specific  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation,  though 
not  opposed  to  it,  are  beyond  reason.  Thus  did  Albertus 
mark  off  natural  from  revealed  religion,  and  separate 
philosophy  from  theology. 

Albertus  has  been  styled  Magnus,  and  yet  his  fame 
has  been  eclipsed  by  that  of  his  distinguished  pupil, 
Thomas  Aquinas.  Between  the  two,  however,  though 
jealousy  might  have  produced  estrangement,  an  un- 
broken friendship  was  maintained.  Thomas,  born  in 
1227,  was  one  of  the  sons  of  Landolf,  Count  of  Aquino. 
In  his  sixteenth  year  he  entered  the  Dominican  Order, 
and  in  due  course  taught  in  Cologne  and  then  in 
Paris,  where  he  joined  in  the  controversy  with  William 
of  St.  Amour,  defending  the  idea  of  mendicancy.  After 
a  life  of  unceasing  intellectual  labour,  during  which 
he  was  styled  Doctor  Angelicus,  he  died  in  1274,  and 
fifty  years  later  was  canonised. 

The  medieval  striving  after  unity  is  illustrated  in 
the  life-work  of  Thomas.  As  one  Church  and  one  State 
existed,  in  idea  at  least,  so  should  there  be  one  science, 
with  God  as  centre,  correlating  all  knowledge.  Philo- 
sophy, theology,  and  natural  science,  as  members  one 
of  another,  could  not  and  should  not  be  opposed.  The 
Church,  Thomas  maintained,  might  of  course  pronounce 
a  theory  untenable  or  a  doctrine  heretical,  but  its  duty 
was  to  welcome  all  knowledge  and  to  foster  all 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  175 


scientific  inquiry,  that  men  might  attain  a  fuller  under- 
standing of  God. 

The  famous  Summa,  based  on  the  idea  of  a  unity 
of  the  sciences,  dealt  in  the  first  portion  with  theology. 
The  second  part  was  an  ethical  disquisition,  in  which 
Aristotelian  influence  was  predominant.  The  doctrine 
of  the  mean  found  its  place  for  discussion  alongside 
of  the  will,  passion,  habit.  In  yet  another  division  of 
the  book  the  theological  virtues,  faith,  hope,  and 
charity,  were  treated ;  while  the  active  and  contem- 
plative life,  the  status  of  priests,  monks,  and  friars, 
were  examined. 

The  method  adopted  by  Thomas  in  this  work  was 
to  set  forth  a  thesis,  to  assail  and  defend  it,  and  to 
reach  conclusions  with  the  aid  of  authorities.  Learning, 
subtle  ingenuity,  philosophical  acumen,  were  mixed  with 
childish  argumentation  and  fanciful  speculation.  The 
book  was  comprehensive,  indeed,  suggestive  of  a  corre- 
lation of  knowledge,  but  its  completion  was  a  task 
beyond  one  man's  power.  None  the  less,  it  was  a 
monumental  work,  testifying  to  the  intellectual  char- 
acter of  the  writer  and  to  the  ambition  of  the  age. 
A  demonstration  of  the  faith  of  the  Church  for  the 
Church,  the  book  was  accepted  by  the  Dominicans  as 
the  scripture  of  orthodoxy,  while  the  writer  was 
honoured  as  the  first  of  theologians. 

In  spite  of  the  ideal  of  unity,  Thomas  drew  a  line 
between  philosophy  and  theology.  "  It  is  impossible," 
he  said,  "  for  the  natural  reason  to  arrive  at  the  know- 
ledge of  the  divine  persons.  By  natural  reason  we 
may  know  those  things  which  pertain  to  the  unity  of 
the  divine  essence,  but  not  those  which  pertain  to  the 
distinction  of  the  divine  persons,  and  he  who  attempts 


176  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


to  prove  by  the  natural  reason  the  trinity  of  persons, 
detracts  from  the  rights  of  faith." 

He  held,  however,  that  it  was  the  function  of  philo- 
sophy to  show  that  reason  was  not  contradicted  in 
the  dogma.  Assured  that  the  authority  of  Christian 
writers  would  appeal  to  none  but  orthodox  believers, 
he  addressed  to  men  outside  the  Church  the  work 
variously  styled,  De  veritate  catholica,  Summa  philo- 
sophica,  Ad  Gentiles.  His  purpose  was  to  show  that 
subjects,  such  as  God,  creation,  providence,  could  be 
rationally  demonstrated ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Trinity,  the  Incarnation,  the  Resurrection,  baptism,  and 
the  eucharist  could  be  shown  not  to  contradict  reason. 

In  the  age  of  quickened  thought  Thomas  was  pre- 
eminently the  apologist  of  the  dogma,  and  no  Abelard 
was  found  in  his  own  day  to  impugn  his  logic.  Though 
he  engaged  in  the  impossible  task  of  embracing  all 
knowledge  in  one  science,  he  rendered  service  by  his 
scientific  presentation  of  theology.  His  title  to  fame, 
perhaps  his  greatest,  rests  on  the  fact  that  he  welcomed 
philosophy  as  a  means  to  establish  the  truth  in  the 
dogma.  In  reason  itself  he  found  a  process  of  reve- 
lation, and  did  not  set  it  in  sharp  opposition  to  the 
specific  revelations  of  Christianity.  Knowledge  de- 
rived through  natural  or  supranatural  means  is  one 
and  the  same,  and  truth  is  not  divided.  Truth,  he 
maintained,  can  always  be  shown  to  be  rational,  or  as 
not  contradicting  reason. 

While  Thomas  failed  to  reduce  all  knowledge  to  one 
science,  in  which  theology  was  to  find  a  place,  he 
assisted  in  realising  another  ideal,  of  supreme  import- 
ance in  medieval  times.  Innocent  ill.,  as  political  dic- 
tator of  the  West,  marked  the  supremacy  of  the  Church, 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  177 


and  theology  was  of  course  its  possession.  Thanks 
largely  to  Thomas,  the  Church  now  ruled  philosophy 
and  science.  Ecclesiastical  influence  doubtless  stimu- 
lated thousfht  for  a  time,  but  when  it  limited  the 
freedom  of  speculation  it  destroyed  the  necessary  con- 
dition of  progress.  None  the  less,  the  work  of  Thomas 
made  for  the  advancement  of  thought.  There  was, 
indeed,  but  an  accidental  fellowship  between  mendicancy 
and  philosophy;  and  yet  to  the  mendicants,  notably 
the  Dominicans  at  first,  is  to  be  ascribed  the  fostering 
of  science  and  the  love  of  learning.  From  them  came 
Albertus,  who  recognised  in  Aristotle  the  forerunner 
of  Christ,  and  Thomas,  who  found  in  knowledge  a 
pathway  to  God. 

Among  the  Thomists  there  were  Augustinians  and 
■  Cistercians,  and,  at  a  later  period,  Jesuits  and  Carmelites 
of  Spain,  who  showed  that  the  disciples  and  followers 
of  Thomas  were  not-  confined  to  the  Dominican  Order. 
The  greatest  to  be  named  with  the  Thomists  was 
Dante,  who,  though  Franciscan  in  many  sympathies, 
turned  to  Albertus  in  natural  science,  and  in  theology 
and  philosophy  to  Thomas. 

In  the  majestic  verse  of  the  Divine  Cmnedy,  Dante 
told  the  story  of  the  Empire  and  the  Church  judging 
the  dead ;  and,  as  he  passed  through  hell  and  purgatory 
to  paradise,  discoursed  now  on  politics,  now  on  theology, 
now  on  philosophy,  as  one  who  had  learned  as  a  pupil 
and  thought  as  a  master. 

It  was  natural,  in  the  association  formed  between 
philosophy  and  theology,  that  some  one  should  attempt 
to  show  that  the  reservation  of  revealed  truth  from 
the  examination  and  judgment  of  reason  was  impolitic 
and  needless ;  and  in  due  time  the  Franciscan  Raymond 


178 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Lully,  born  iu  1235,  came  forward,  contending  that  it 
belongs  to  philosophy  to  give  rational  proof  of  the 
whole  dogma,  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation  included. 
Lully  attempted  this  proof,  arguing  at  the  same  time 
that  it  did  not  increase  the  value  of  belief  to  receive 
things  beyond  rational  demonstration.  Philosophy  and 
theologj",  however,  were  not  to  be  identified :  but,  on 
the  contrary,  as  new  thinkers  arose,  their  close  re- 
lationship was  to  be  questioned. 

It  was  possible  with  Lully  to  assert  the  supremacy 
of  philosophy,  and  it  w'as  also  possible  to  narrow  its 
sphere.  Duns  Scotus  marks  a  reaction  from  Thomas, 
as  he  placed  among  the  articles  of  faith  certain 
doctrines,  such  as  the  beginning  of  the  world  in  time 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  the  great 
Dominican  had  sought  to  prove.  Duns  set  himself  to 
examine  the  speculative  method  of  Thomas,  that  the 
content  of  faith  might  be  determined,  and  built  up  a 
reputation  as  a  critic,  securing  followers  among  the 
Franciscans.  Rivalry  may  have  exerted  little  influence 
on  Duns  himself,  but  undoubtedly  it  excited  the  Scotists 
in  opposing  the  Thomists. 

The  birthplace,  even  the  country,  of  John  Duns 
Scotus  is  unknown,  as  Scotus  is  indefinite.  He  was 
born  in  1274;  and  in  1300  was  in  Oxford,  a  member 
of  the  Franciscan  Order,  and  in  1304  in  Paris. 
Wadding  asserts  that  he  proceeded  to  Cologne  in  1305, 
and  to  Toulouse  in  1307,  though  these  dates  have 
been  questioned.  Appearing  in  Oxford  as  a  writer  on 
Aristotle,  he  became  famous  in  Paris  as  the  defender 
of  the  immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin,  acquiring 
the  title  of  Doctor  Subtilis.  He  is  said  to  have  ex- 
amined some  two  hundred  propositions  in  reference  to 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  179 


this  doctrine,  and  we  are  told  that  on  one  occasion 
the  Vircrin  herself  bowed  the  head  of  an  imac^e  in 
reply  to  a  prayer  for  aid  in  the  argument. 

Duns  was  a  careful  student  of  Aristotle,  and  it  was 
revealed  to  him  that  the  Greek  philosopher  was  not 
the  Christian  before  Christ  whom  Albertus  and  Thomas 
liad  discovered.   Aristotle  as  an  aid  to  Christian  thought 
was  tried  and  not  seldom  found  wanting;  and  argu- 
ments based  on  misunderstandings  of  his  teaching  were 
cast  aside.   The  whole  Thomist  position  was  examined, 
and  criticism  weakened,  if  it  did  not  destroy,  the 
intimate  association  of  philosophy  and  theology.  Duns, 
however,  did  not  lay  himself  open  to  a  charge  of 
heresy.    On  the  contrary,  he  was  zealous,  as  ever 
.  Dominican  was,  for  the  stability  of  the  dogma.  While 
he  could  reject  arguments  for  the  faith,  whether  de- 
rived from  Aristotle,  or  not,  he  found  no  difficulty  in 
professing  to  believe  doctrines  which  had  no  biblical 
foundation.    It  was  enough  that  the  Church  should 
determine  objects  for  belief,  since  it  was  the  living 
voice  of  revelation,  the  organ  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
declaring  truth.    The  decrees  of  the  Church,  and  not 
the  Bible  by  itself,  constituted  for  him  the  supreme 
authority  in  religion.    Duns  saw  with  perfect  clear- 
ness that  this  authority,  and  the  doctrines  established 
by  it,  could  have  no  philosophical  justification,  and 
hence  that  theology  was  not  akin  to  other  sciences. 
His  strong  assertion,  however,  of  the  Church's  right  to 
determine  the  creed  saved  him  from  persecution,  and 
helped  to  guard  the  faith  from  the  attacks  of  reason. 

Thomas,  distinguishing  faith  from  reason,  had  made 
this  declaration :  "  Sacred  doctrine  uses  human  reason 
not  for  proving  faith,  for  through  this  the  merit  of 


i8o  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


faith  would  be  lost."  His  effort,  none  the  less,  was 
to  connect  the  two  processes  as  steps  leading  towards 
the  knowledge  of  God.  The  result  was  that  by 
limiting  the  truths  assigned  to  faith  he  lessened  its 
merit,  and  impaired  the  authority  of  the  Church 
which  decreed  the  content  of  faith.  Duns,  on  his 
part,  reduced  the  function  of  philosophy,  rescuing 
doctrines  from  its  charge,  aud  increased  the  merit  of 
faith,  determining  it  as  belief  in  truths  above  and 
beyond  reason.  Theology  in  his  judgment  was  not 
a  speculative  science,  and  he  asserted  that  what  is 
true  for  it  might  be  false  for  philosophy.  He  showed, 
too,  the  essential  difference  between  the  philosopher 
and  the  theologian  when,  for  example,  he  pointed  out 
that  the  one  recognised  the  existing  order  as  natural, 
while  the  other  viewed  it  as  the  result  of  the  Fall. 

Duns  was  an  indeterminist  in  his  doctrine  of  human 
will,  while  he  separated  the  understanding  from  the 
will  of  God.  The  divine  understanding,  he  maintained, 
works  naturaliter,  and  is  the  ground  of  what  is 
necessary ;  while  the  will  acts  libere,  and  is  the  cause 
of  all  that  is  contingent.  There  is  no  necessity  in 
the  order  of  things,  which  is  simply  dependent  on 
the  divine  will.  As  this  is  a  world  of  contingen- 
cies, and  God  might  act  otherwise  than  He  does,  there 
can  be  no  rational  justification  of  certain  parts  of  the 
dogma,  and  these  therefore  become  objects  of  faith. 
The  creation  of  man,  the  Incarnation,  to  take  examples, 
have  in  them  no  element  of  necessity.  Further,  good 
is  good,  evil  is  evil,  because  of  the  will  of  God.  This 
doctrine  was  contrary  to  that  of  Thomas,  who  taught 
that  the  divine  will  is  rationally  determined,  and  that 
God  orders  what  is  good  because  it  is  good. 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  i8i 


In  recrard  to  universals,  Duns  aorreed  with  Albertus 
and  Thomas,  that  they  exist  ante  rem,  in  re,  and  ijost 
rem.  He  refused,  however,  to  recognise  with  them  that 
matter  is  the  determining  principle  of  individuaHty. 
An  animal  becomes  man,  he  argued,  by  addition  of 
humanity;  man  becomes  Socrates  by  addition  of 
Socratitas.  Not  matter  but  form  is  the  essence  of 
individuality.  In  the  teaching  of  Thomas  the  in- 
dividual, by  its  characteristic  of  matter,  is  essenti- 
ally defective.  Duns,  substituting  form  for  matter, 
saw  in  the  individual  the  realised  purpose  or  end 
of  nature. 

This  recognition  of  the  value  and  dignity  of 
individual  things  had  important  bearing  on  the 
teaching  of  William  of  Occam,  who  was  at  once  the 
disciple  and  opponent  of  Duns. 

•  Duns  is  remembered  in  the  history  of  thought  as 
a  critic  rather  than  as  a  system  maker,  though  men 
were  called  by  his  name.  Without  openly  declaring 
in  favour  of  the  divorce  of  faith  from  reason,  he  aided 
the  separation  by  his  doctrine  of  double  truth.  He 
was  not,  however,  to  be  the  saviour  of  philosophy. 
In  reality  he  was  a  strong  defender  of  the  Church. 
The  man  of  simple  understanding,  bewildered  when 
dialecticians  argued  and  theologians  wrangled,  required 
guidance  in  faith,  and  Duns,  if  he  did  no  other  work, 
fostered  the  assurance  of  the  Church  in  the  value 
of  its  own  authority,  and  its  power  to  minister  peace 
to  the  doubter. 

The  declaration  of  the  separation  of  philosophy  from 
theology,  in  a  sense  the  death  blow  of  scholasticism, 
is  associated  w^ith  the  name  of  William  of  Occam. 
William,    styled  of  Occam   from  his  birthplace  in 


i82  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Surrey,  was  born  probably  in  one  of  the  last  years 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  died — again  the  date  is 
uncertain — in  1349.  He  was  a  student  and  teacher 
at  Oxford,  a  teacher  also  at  Paris,  and  a  member  of 
the  Franciscan  Order. 

William  was  an  ardent  student  of  logic,  a  keen 
opponent  of  realism.  The  individual,  he  held,  is  the 
only  reality.  The  universal  is  but  "a  mental  con- 
ception signifying  univocally  several  singulars,"  and 
has  no  reality  apart  from  the  mental  act  which  pro- 
duces it.  Universalia  in  mente  do  not  therefore  exist 
as  distinct  entities ;  and  universalia  ante  rem  are 
not  substantial  existences  in  God,  but  are  His  know- 
ledge, not  of  universals,  but  of  singulars  which  alone 
have  existence.  Occam  was  an  individualist,  though 
he  and  his  followers  were  styled  Nominalists.  From 
his  doctrine  of  individualism  the  separation  of  philo- 
sophy and  theology  followed.  That  which  exists  is 
the  individual,  and  our  knowledge  cannot  transcend 
experience.  Belief  in  that  which  is  beyond  experi- 
ence belongs  to  faith,  and  we  have  no  rational 
knowledge  of  the  content  of  revealed  religion.  Thus 
the  dogma  is  separated  from  reason,  theology  from 
philosophy. 

Occam's  denial  of  the  existence  of  universals  in 
the  mind  of  God,  antecedent  to  and  separate  from 
individual  things,  associates  itself  with  his  doctrine 
of  the  divine  will.  Ideas  with  a  separate  existence  in 
the  divine  mind,  as  models  of  things,  would  determine 
the  divine  will,  destroying  its  freedom.  That  will  is 
undetermined,  according  to  Occam,  and  there  is  no 
necessity  in  God's  actions.  Necessity  does  not  there- 
fore lie  at  the  root  of  such  doctrines  as  the  Incarnation, 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  1S3 


and  these  doctrines  therefore  admit  of  no  rational 
exposition.  Philosophy  has  no  function  to  demon- 
strate the  truths  of  revealed  religion,  since  necessity 
is  not  bound  up  with  their  nature.  It  follows,  too, 
that  since  God  acts  from  mere  good  pleasure,  there 
is  no  necessity  to  be  found  in  the  precepts  of  morals. 
They  must  be  obeyed  because  God  orders  them,  but 
it  is  conceivable  that  good  might  have  been  evil,  or 
evil  good,  since  God  exercises  His  will  according  to 
pleasure  and  not  according  to  necessity.  Occam,  too, 
like  Duns,  was  an  indeterminist  in  his  doctrine  of 
human  will. 

The  chasm  between  reason  and  faith  was  made 
apparent  in  the  teaching  of  Occam,  especially  as  an 
examination  of  specific  doctrines  showed  to  his  satis- 
faction that  they  were  contradicted  by  reason.  Thomas 
had  assailed,  and  at  the  same  time  successfully  defended, 
every  doctrine  of  the  Church.  Occam,  on  the  other 
hand,  attacked,  but  offered  no  rational  defence.  Trans- 
ferrino:  the  doixma  to  the  region  of  faith  more  efiec- 
tively  than  Duns,  he,  too,  helped  to  strengthen  the 
Church's  authority,  and  avoided  the  charge  of  heresy  by 
professing  the  doctrine  of  double  truth.  This  doctrine 
was  in  the  last  degree  dangerous  to  the  stability  of 
the  dogma  and  to  morals,  but  it  secured  its  adherents 
from  persecution,  and  the  Church  was  content  that 
its  creed  should  be  alienated  from  reason. 

The  teaching  of  Occam  had  an  important  bearing  on 
reliijion,  which  was  no  lonofer  confused  with  either 
knowledge  or  speculation.  By  checking  argumenta- 
tion it  directed  attention  to  the  facts  of  the  gospel. 
In  this  manner  religion  gained,  but  there  was  also 
serious  loss.    For  spiritual  truth  no  basis  was  shown 


1 84  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 

except  the  Church's  authority.  Philosophy  was  not 
even  required  to  demonstrate,  as  the  earlier  scholastics 
hoped  it  would,  that  the  dogma  was  not  opposed  to 
reason.  On  the  contrary-,  philosophy,  as  an  exercise 
for  logicians,  might  reduce  the  creed  to  a  set  of 
irrational  propositions,  and  leave  it  with  no  defence 
save  the  assertion  of  its  truth  by  the  representatives 
of  an  institution.  The  Church,  however,  was  all- 
powerful,  rejoicing  in  the  pride  of  authority  ;  and  not 
yet  were  philosophy  and  science  to  have  freedom  to 
pursue  their  mission,  but  were  even  excluded  from 
serving;  as  aids  to  faith. 

In  the  century  before  Occam  appeared  Roger  Bacon 
had  sought  to  pursue  science,  and  had  suflfered  and 
failed.  Albertus  Magnus,  by  the  studies  of  his  earlier 
years,  gave  an  impulse  to  research ;  and  it  was  possible 
that  some  one  would  arise,  eager  for  science  for  its  own 
sake,  determined  to  investigate  nature  without  priestly 
guidance  or  interference.  Roger  Bacon  did  not  and 
could  not  separate  from  the  Church.  In  spite,  how- 
ever, of  professions,  of  ecclesiastical  or  theological 
interests,  his  mastering^  desire  was  to  observe  and 
understand  the  things  of  nature.  Unfortunately  for 
it  and  him,  the  fulness  of  time  had  not  yet  come  for 
science. 

Bacon  was  born,  it  is  conjectured,  in  Ilchester  in 
1214.  He  studied  in  Oxford  and  Paris,  and  entered 
the  Franciscan  Order.  He  roused  suspicion  among  the 
Brothers  by  engaging  in  experiments  in  physics ;  and 
it  is  chronicled  that  by  the  year  1267  he  had  spent  two 
thousand  librae  "  on  secret  books  and  various  experi- 
ments and  lano^uao^es  and  instruments  and  tables."  The 
Superior  enjoined  him  to  discontinue  his  researches 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  185 


and  not  to  publish  his  discoveries.  A  forced  exile 
of  ten  years  in  France  probably  implied  that  he  had 
disobeyed  the  injunction.  Pope  Clement  iv.  befriended 
him,  asking  him  to  set  forth  his  views  on  philosophy, 
but  giving  him  no  substantial  help  for  his  experiments. 

In  fifteen  or  eighteen  months  works  known  as  Opus 
Majus,  Ojyits  Minus,  and  Opus  Tertium  were  prepared, 
in  spite  of  difficulties,  and  sent  to  Rome.  The 
difficulties  were  real.  The  Franciscans,  he  wrote, 
"kept  me  on  bread  and  water,  suffering  no  one  to 
have  access  to  me,  fearful  lest  my  writings  should 
be  divulged  to  any  other  than  the  pope  and  them- 
selves." Clement  died  and  Bacon  was  left  without 
help.  In  1278,  at  a  chapter  of  the  Order  at  Paris, 
he  was  condemned  "propter  quasdam  novitates," 
and  was  imprisoned,  probably  till  1292,  the  date  of 
the  last  of  his  numerous  writings.  After  that  year 
there  is  no  definite  information  regarding  him,  though 
there  is  the  report  that  at  his  death  he  was  buried 
among  the  Minorites  at  Oxford. 

In  his  Opus  Majus  Bacon  set  forth  his  conception 
of  the  true  method  of  study,  and  demanded  that  all 
presuppositions  founded  on  authority  and  custom 
should  be  cast  aside.  The  relations  of  theology  and 
philosophy  were  considered,  and  he  had  no  convic- 
tion that  reason  should  not  minister  to  faith.  With 
scholarly  instinct  he  contended,  in  connection  with 
theology,  that  Hebrew  and  Greek  should  be  learned  as 
preliminaries  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  Aristotle. 
In  the  same  work  he  dealt  with  arithmetic,  geometry, 
astrology,  music,  and  optics.  Bacon's  fame  rests,  how- 
ever, on  the  fact  that  he  was  an  experimental  scientist. 
To  him  the  thirteenth  century  awarded  that  reputation 


1 86  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  trafficking  in  magic  which  the  tenth  century  had 
given  to  Pope  Sylvester  ii.  Bacon,  without  exaggera- 
tion, may  be  styled  a  martyr,  who  lived  in  an  age  when 
the  study  of  the  physical  works  of  Aristotle  led  to 
talk  but  not  to  investigation,  and  when  superstition 
was  too  rampant  to  tolerate  even  the  crude  experi- 
ments of  the  beginnings  of  science. 

He  is  worthy  to  be  remembered,  if  for  nothing 
else,  on  account  of  the  enthusiasm  which  inspired  him, 
amidst  natural  difficulties  and  the  persecution  of 
enemies,  to  pursue  science  for  its  revelations.  In 
one  of  his  letters  addressed  to  the  pope  he  wrote : 
"  But  how  often  I  was  looked  upon  as  a  dishonest 
beggar,  how  often  I  was  repulsed,  how  often  put 
off  with  empty  hopes,  what  confusion  I  suffered 
within  myself,  I  cannot  express  to  you.  Even  my 
friends  did  not  believe  me,  as  I  could  not  explain  the 
matter  to  them ;  so  I  could  not  proceed  in  this  way. 
Reduced  to  the  last  extremities,  I  compelled  my  poor 
friends  to  contribute  all  that  they  had  and  to  sell  many 
things  and  to  pawn  the  rest,  often  at  usury,  and  I 
promised  them  that  I  would  send  to  you  all  the  details 
of  the  expenses  and  would  faithfully  procure  full  pay- 
ment at  your  hands.  And  yet  owing  to  their  poverty 
I  frequently  abandoned  the  work,  frequently  I  gave  it 
up  in  despair  and  forbore  to  proceed." 

William  of  Occam  was  the  last  of  the  mendicants 
deserving  to  be  named  in  the  history  of  philosophy. 
In  him  we  have  the  complete  separation  of  philosophy 
from  theology,  the  demonstration  of  the  impossibility 
of  rationalising  the  dogma  and  including  it  in  the 
content  of  philosophy.  His  writings  were  proscribed 
by  the  university  of  Paris,  yet  his  doctrines  became 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  187 


popular,  attracting  men  beyond  the  ranks  of  the 
Franciscans.  Some  rejoiced  to  see  piety  freed  from 
the  subtleties  of  logic;  others  recognised  that  philo- 
sophy had  been  enfranchised,  even  though  the  Church 
was  still  strong  to  crush  all  dangerous  speculation. 
These  subtleties  Erasmus  described  as  "  quibblings 
about  notions,  and  relations,  and  formalitations,  and 
quiddities,  and  hificceities,  which  no  eye  could  follow 
out  but  that  of  a  lynx,  which  is  said  to  be  able  in 
the  thickest  darkness  to  see  things  that  have  no 
existence." 

In  the  domain  of  dogmatic  theology  the  great 
schoolmen  were  pre-eminent,  primarily  interested  as 
they  were  in  the  creed  of  the  Church.  The  work 
of  Thomas  Aquinas,  for  example,  included  the  present- 
ment of  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  the  person  of 
Christ,  redemption,  the  sacraments,  grace.  The 
Thomists,  amono-  whom  the  Dominicans  were  con- 
spicuous,  accepted  his  expositions,  while  his  formidable 
critics  were  the  Scotists,  who,  for  the  most  part,  were 
Franciscans.  The  Dominican  spirit  manifested  itself 
in  conservative  orthodoxy ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  more  democratic  and  progressive  Franciscans 
indulged  in  criticism  and  welcomed  novelty.  This 
characteristic  difterence  suggests  an  essential  opposi- 
tion between  the  Orders,  and  certainly  the  idea  of 
rivalry  is  with  difficulty  excluded.  Preachers  and 
Minorites,  in  any  case,  were  frequently  ranged  on 
opposite  sides,  as  when  the  immaculate  conception  of 
the  Virgin  was  a  burning  question,  or  when  the  infinite 
or  finite  magnitude  of  the  first  sin  was  a  problem. 

The  activity  of  the  mendicants  in  the  work  of 
theology  may  be  illustrated    from    their  treatment 


i88  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


of  the  doctrine  of  redemption.  Aquinas,  admitting 
the  death  of  Christ  to  be  not  the  only  possible  means 
for  the  remission  of  sins,  argued  that  it  was  the  most 
fitting,  since  it  won  for  men  "justifying  grace"  and 
"  the  glory  of  beatitude."  He  debated  whether  Christ 
suffered  as  to  His  divinity  or  humanity,  and  further, 
examined  His  death  under  the  conception  of  satisfac- 
tion and  in  relation  to  merit.  Christ,  he  maintained, 
since  His  suffering  was  voluntary,  merited  exaltation ; 
and,  seeing  that  exaltation  could  not  be  conferred 
on  Him,  the  reward  due  to  merit  passed  to  the  Church 
of  which  He  is  Head.  "  The  head  and  members  are," 
he  said,  "  as  it  were,  one  mystical  person,  and  thus  the 
satisfaction  of  Christ  belongs  to  all  believers,  just 
as  to  His  own  members."  Duns,  in  opposition  to 
Thomas,  contended  that  satisfaction  and  merit  have 
value  according  to  the  estimate  of  the  person  to  whom 
the  satisfaction  is  made,  and  that  the  value  of  Christ's 
death  was  judged  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
God.  That  value  could  not  be  infinite,  seeing  that 
sin,  for  which  the  death  took  place,  is  committed  by 
finite  beings;  and  again,  seeing  that  Christ  suffered 
in  His  human  or  finite  nature.  Then,  too,  an  infinite 
merit  is  not  possible,  as  everything  is  good  or  bad, 
small  or  great,  according  to  God's  will,  and  is  not 
needed,  since  He  can  determine  the  worth  of  merit  at 
His  pleasure.  The  death  of  Christ  has  not,  therefore, 
according  to  Duns,  a  merit  which  passes  to  the  Church, 
to  the  members  of  His  mystical  body. 

Controversy  in  theology  has  not  been  confined  to 
the  days  of  the  schoolmen,  but  the  rivalry  of  the 
Orders  undoubtedly  gave  sharpness  to  their  strife. 
The  friars  wrangled,  and  many  of  their  disputations 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  189 


were  mere  battles  of  words.  These  men,  however,  are 
not  to  be  ignored,  since  the  history  of  theology  in  the 
pre-Reformation  centuries  is  a  chapter  in  the  larger 
history  of  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  Orders. 

In  the  period  of  the  decline  of  scholasticism,  before 
Erasmus  satirised  the  quibblings  of  the  schoolmen,  the 
German  mystics  marked  the  attempt  of  piety  to  free 
itself  from  the  grasp  of  logical  formulae,  from  hard 
syllogistic  expression  or  presentation,  in  order  to 
become  living  religion  acceptable  to  and  intelligible  by 
the  people.  While  seeking  to  change  the  method  and 
expression  of  thought,  these  men  did  not  represent  a 
recoil  from  metaphysics,  a  reaction  against  speculation. 
On  the  contrary,  in  the  sermons  in  which  they  sought 
to  popularise  theology,  they  indulged  in  disputation  ; 
and  Eckhart,  the  most  noted  preacher  among  the 
mystics,  was  a  thinker  whose  teaching  disturbed  the 
peace  of  the  Church. 

Eckhart  was  born,  it  is  supposed,  in  Thuringia, 
somewhere  about  the  year  1260,  and  was  a  student 
and  teacher  in  Paris.  He  entered  the  Dominican 
Order,  and  in  1304  was  provincial  in  Saxony,  and  in 
1307  vicar-general  in  Bohemia.  His  fame  as  a 
preacher  was  spread  abroad  through  Germany.  In 
1317  the  Bishop  of  Strasburg  condemned  his  doctrine; 
and  at  last,  in  1327,  he  was  summoned,  at  the 
instance  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  to  answer 
before  the  Inquisition.  Agreeing  to  recant  whatever 
he  had  taught  contrary  to  the  faith,  he  appealed  to 
Rome  ;  he  died  before  the  papal  answer  was  published, 
in  which  twenty-eight  theses  set  forth  by  him  were 
declared  to  be  heretical.  Eckhart,  perhaps  tlirough 
the   bias   of  his  nationality,  was  not  concerned  to 


190  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


uphold  the  authority  of  the  Church  as  a  basis  of 
doctrine.  His  aim  was  to  give  an  intelligible  account 
of  Christianity,  and,  as  a  preacher,  to  present  it  in 
attractive  form.  He  was  a  student  of  Aristotle, 
according  to  the  prevailing  fashion  of  his  age  ;  but  he 
found  in  Platonism  or  Neo-Platonism  the  ideas  which 
led  him  to  mysticism  and  caused  him,  on  account  of  his 
teaching  that  God  is  all  and  in  all,  to  be  suspected  of 
Pantheism. 

According  to  Eckhart,  the  absolute  becomes  God 
only  when  it  utters  itself,  becomes  God  as  Trinity  in 
the  act  of  self-knowledge.  The  word  which  God 
utters  is  the  Son,  and  that  which  binds  Father  and 
Son  is  the  Spirit.  The  act  of  self-knowledge  is  God 
as  subject  beholding  Himself  in  the  Son  as  object, 
while  the  love  of  the  one  to  the  other,  springing 
from  this  act,  is  the  Spirit.  In  the  Son  as  the  object 
of  this  act  of  self-knowledge  is  included  the  totality 
of  things.  Thus  all  things  exist  in  God  from  the 
beginning.  Yet  apart  from  the  world  existing  in 
imao-e  in  His  mind,  is  the  world  created  in  time  out 
of  nothing.  The  independent  existence  of  this 
created  world  is  only  apparent,  though  Eckhart  does 
not  explain  the  apparent  independence.  He  insists 
that  were  God  to  withdraw  Himself  from  the  things 
existing  in  time  they  would  become  nothing.  They 
do  not  become  nothing,  however,  because  there  is  in 
them  a  divine  element,  which  marks  an  identity  with 
God.  That  identity  is  not  perfect,  on  account  of  an- 
other and  sensuous  element  which  creates  a  dualism. 
In  the  nature  of  things,  in  virtue  of  God  being  their 
essence,  communicated  by  grace,  there  is  the  tendency 
to  overcome  this  dualism  and  to  return  to  Him.  The 


MENDICANTS  AND  SCHOLASTICISM  191 


return  is  possible  through  the  human  soul,  the 
representative  and  highest  of  creation,  having  the 
power  to  think  all  things  and  so  to  make  them  lose 
their  limitations.  The  life  of  the  soul  is  a  return  to 
God,  and  final  union  can  only  follow  the  death  of  the 
body.  God  must  be  the  one  object  of  thought,  the 
human  will  must  suffer  negation  that  it  may  become 
one  with  the  divine  will.  Individuality  is  in  this 
fashion  to  be  lost,  that  all  creatures  may  be  one ; 
and  this  one  is  the  Son  whom  the  Father  has  begotten. 

In  the  ethics  of  Eckhart,  asceticism,  exemplified  in 
the  fastings  and  vigils  prescribed  by  the  Church,  was 
at  most  a  preparation  for  the  union  of  the  soul  with 
God.  The  assertion,  he  declared,  that  such  works 
effect  salvation  is  the  statement  of  the  devil.  Eckhart 
repudiated  the  Church  as  a  necessary  agent  in  salvation, 
which  is  unity  with  God  ;  and  claimed  for  himself  the 
right,  apart  from  any  accredited  system,  to  think 
out  the  truths  of  Christianity. 

Eckhart  was  the  master  of  mystics  such  as  Tauler, 
the  inspirer  of  the  German  Theology  which  Luther, 
in  1518,  caused  to  be  published.  The  unknown  author 
of  that  work  quickened  the  thought  of  Luther,  pre- 
paring him  for  the  revolt ;  and  so  the  analysis  of 
history  places  the  mystic  piety  of  Eckhart  among  the 
innumerable  causes  of  the  Reformation,  links  too;ether 
the  revivals  of  the  thirteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
and  brings  into  one  association  of  religion  Dominicans 
and  Reformers. 

Hales,  Bonaventura,  Albertus,  Thomas,  Bacon, 
Duns,  Occam,  Eckhart,  friars  each  of  Francis  or 
Dominic,  are  not  the  least  in  the  kincrdom  of  thouorht. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Degradation  of  the  Orders 

The  intense  zeal  of  Dominic  and  the  fervent  piety  of 
Francis,  in  the  custom  of  experience,  continued  in 
individuals  but  departed  from  the  crowd;  and  con- 
sequently, though  the  founder's  name  was  preserved  in 
each  Order,  many  of  the  friars  had  neither  zeal  nor 
piety.  The  natural  history  of  a  revival  shows  the 
periods  of  birth,  growth,  maturity,  decline,  and  death, 
and  in  the  mendicant  movement  these  stages,  if  perhaps 
we  omit  the  last,  may  be  marked.  Mendicancy,  a 
religious  revival,  was  associated  with  organisations 
which  endured  after  the  extinction  of  the  fire  of 
enthusiasm  which  had  blazed  at  their  foundation. 
They  endured,  but  their  character  and  reputation 
changed.  Chaucer  and  Langland,  Dunbar  and 
Lindsay,  Erasmus  and  George  Buchanan,  each  held 
up  the  friars  to  scorn ;  but  before  Chaucer  wrote  "  The 
Sompnoures  Tale  "  the  degradation  of  the  Orders  had 
begun.  As  early  as  1233  Gregory  ix.  reminded  the 
Dominicans  that  their  vow  of  poverty  was  taken  to 
be  kept.  In  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Benedictine,  Matthew  Paris,  wrote  in  this  fashion : 
"  It  is  horrible,  it  is  an  awful  presage,  that  in  three 
hundred  years,  in  four  hundred  years,  even  in  more, 
the  old  monastic    Orders    have    not    so  entirely 

192 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  193 

degenerated  as  these  fraternities.  The  friars,  who 
have  been  founded  hardly  forty  years,  have  built, 
even  in  the  present  day  in  England,  residences  as  lofty 
as  the  palaces  of  our  kings.  These  are  they  who, 
enlarging  day  by  day  their  sumptuous  edifices, 
encircling  them  with  lofty  walls,  lay  up  within  them 
incalculable  treasures,  imprudently  transgressing  the 
bounds  of  poverty,  and  violating,  according  to  the 
prophecy  of  the  German  Hildegard,  the  very  funda- 
mental rules  of  their  profession.  These  are  they  who, 
impelled  by  the  love  of  gain,  force  themselves  upon 
the  last  hours  of  the  lords,  and  of  the  rich  whom 
they  know  to  be  overflowing  with  w^ealth  ;  and  these, 
despising  all  rights,  supplanting  the  ordinary  pastors, 
extort  confessions  and  secret  testaments,  boasting  of 
themselves  and  of  their  Order,  and  asserting  their  vast 
superiority  over  all  others.  So  that  no  one  of  the 
faithful  now  believes  that  he  can  be  saved  unless 
guided  and  directed  by  the  Preachers  or  Friar  Minors. 
Eager  to  obtain  privileges,  they  dwell  in  the  courts 
of  kings  and  nobles,  as  counsellors,  chamberlains, 
treasurers,  bridesmen,  or  notaries  of  marriages ;  they 
are  the  executioners  of  the  papal  extortions.  In  their 
preaching  they  sometimes  take  the  tone  of  flattery, 
sometimes  of  biting  censure  ;  they  scruple  not  to  reveal 
confessions  or  to  bring  forward  the  most  rash  accusa- 
tions." These  are  the  words  of  a  member  of  one  of  the 
old  monkish  Orders,  but  as  he  had  praised  the  friars 
at  an  earlier  period  they  may  have  been  dictated  by  a 
passion  higher  than  jealousy.  Another  witness  may 
be  cited,  one  certainly  not  moved  by  a  sinister  passion. 
In  1257,  Bonaventura,  the  general  of  the  Franciscans, 
lamented  that  his  Brotherhood  was  the  object  of 
13 


194  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


popular  dislike  on  account  of  greed,  idleness,  worldli- 
ness,  and  scandalous  conduct.  Ten  years  later  he 
wrote,  after  noting  certain  grave  faults  :  "  It  is  a  foul 
and  profane  lie  to  assert  oneself  the  voluntary- 
professor  of  absolute  poverty  and  then  refuse  to 
submit  to  the  lack  of  anything,  to  beg  abroad  like  a 
pauper  and  to  roll  in  wealth  at  home."  In  the 
fourteenth  century  things  were  not  better,  since  St. 
Brigitta  in  her  Revelations,  at  that  time  recognised 
as  divinely  inspired,  spoke  thus  of  the  two  Orders : 
"  Although  founded  upon  vows  of  poverty,  they  have 
amassed  riches,  place  their  whole  aim  in  increasing 
their  wealth,  dress  as  richly  as  bishops,  and  many  of 
them  are  more  extravagant  in  their  jewellery  and 
ornaments  than  laymen  who  are  reputed  wealthy." 

The  love  of  money  was  prominent  among  the  causes 
of  the  corruption  of  the  mendicants.  It  captured 
them,  in  spite  of  the  vow  of  poverty.  As  early  as 
1230,  four  years  after  the  death  of  the  saint,  certain 
Franciscan  Brothers  solicited  a  papal  interpretation  of 
the  Rule  in  respect  of  the  holding  of  property. 
Ugolini,  Gregory  ix.,  in  the  bull  Quo  elongati,  decided 
that  Francis  could  not  bind  his  successors,  that  his 
Testament  was  simply  a  private  interpretation  of  the 
official  Rule,  and  that  agents  acting  for  donors  could 
hold  property  and  spend  money  on  behalf  of  the  friars. 
This  decision  marked  a  relaxation  of  the  vow  of 
poverty,  and  issued  in  decadence  with  evil  repute. 
The  decision,  moreover,  was  in  accordance  with  the 
papal  policy  to  reduce  the  enthusiasm  of  the  mendi- 
cants, especially  the  Franciscans,  to  practical  sense,  so 
that  representing  poverty  without  suffering  extreme 
hardship,  and  marking  no  violent  contrast  between 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  195 


themselves  and  the  secular  priests,  they  mi^rht  be 
revered  for  piety,  and  recognised  as  worthy  servants 
of  the  Church.  The  consequences  of  this  policy  were 
far-reachinor.  The  Dominicans  retained  the  name 
without  the  character  of  mendicants,  as  they  ministered 
to  social  classes  for  whose  sake  it  was  not  necessary 
to  be  poor.  It  was  different,  however,  with  the 
Franciscans,  because  poverty  stamped  them  as 
N-irtuous  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  among  whom  they 
laboured.  The  papal  policy  divided  them,  and  while 
some  listened  to  Rome,  othei-s  opposed  popes,  sided 
with  Imperialists,  disobeyed  ministers-general,  and, 
endeavouring  to  keep  the  vow  without  subterfuge  or 
attempting  to  make  poverty  the  cardinal  virtue, 
suffered  even  torture  and  death. 

One  of  the  lucrative  sources  of  income  was  the 
traffic  in  indulgences.  Neither  Dominic  nor  Francis 
condemned  this  system  of  pardons,  though  the  sale 
was  contrary  to  their  professed  ideals.  Gregory  ix., 
at  the  translation  of  the  bodv  of  Francis,  gfranted 
indulgences  to  visitors  to  the  church  built  by  Elias 
of  Cortona,  and  inaugurated  the  custom,  followed  by 
one  pope  after  another,  of  enriching  the  Brothers  by 
associating  indulgences  with  the  shrines  of  saints  who 
had  been  members  of  one  or  other  of  the  Orders.  The 
Portiuncula  was  the  most  noted  of  all  the  indulofences, 
as  leo^end  ascribed  its  suorcrestion  to  Christ,  and 
gradually  its  privileges  were  extended.  So  wide- 
spread was  the  system  that  the  Dominicans  counted  as 
their  own  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  different 
indulgences  granted  before  the  close  of  the  reign  of 
Leo  X.,  and  each  of  these  meant  wealth.  And,  as  if 
this  wealth  did  not  suffice,  Boniface  viii.  gave  the 


196  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


Dominicans,  when  re-building  a  church  in  Rome, 
certain  monies  obtained  from  usurers.  The  friars 
profited  where  the  defrauded  suffered. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  Orders  privileges 
began  to  be  bestowed,  many  of  which  were  contrary  to 
the  vow  and  spirit  of  poverty.  Honorius  ill.  gave  the 
Dominicans  the  right  to  celebrate  mass,  when  the 
secular  priest  was  silent,  in  districts  under  censure  and 
interdict ;  and  in  1241  they  obtained  permission  to  beg 
within  the  territories  of  the  excommunicated.  Again, 
while  bishops  were  commanded  to  absolve  the  friars 
after  confession,  the  superiors  of  the  Orders  were 
enabled  to  free  them  from  penance  or  ecclesiastical 
punishment.  By  other  privileges,  gradually  acquired, 
the  friars  were  allowed  to  preach,  to  hear  confessions, 
and  also  to  bury  the  dead  in  the  churches  of  the 
Orders,  and  for  these  offices  to  exact  dues.  The  result 
of  these  benefits  was  that,  from  their  first  intrusion  into 
the  various  dioceses,  the  friars  were  at  open  feud  with 
the  parochial  clergy,  who  found  their  authority  and 
their  incomes  alike  diminished.  Yet  these  clerics  were 
as  a  rule  ignorant,  and  sometimes  vicious,  and  it  was 
a  relief  to  laymen  to  have  spiritual  guides  with  a 
reputation  of  decency  and  piety.  Innocent  ill.,  in  a 
sermon  at  the  Lateran  Council,  declared  that  the 
priests  were  the  chief  corrupters  of  the  people,  and 
the  statement  was  endorsed  by  Honorius  ill.  ;  while 
Bonaventura  and  Aquinas,  to  take  later  examples, 
each  denounced  the  ignorance  of  the  churchmen.  So 
long  as  the  pious  reputation  continued,  laymen  flocked 
to  the  friars,  who  had  difficulty  at  first  in  meeting 
their  wants.  And  even  in  the  days  of  their  corruption 
they  were  in  constant  requisition,  since  there  were 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  197 


many  who  preferred  to  confess  to  strangers,  whom 
they  probably  hoped  never  again  to  see. 

In  addition  to  preaching,  hearing  confessions,  and 
officiating  at  burials,  the  mendicants  administered  the 
sacraments ;  and  naturally,  as  things  spiritual  had 
their  price,  the  priests  had  no  dealings  with  them.  For 
a  short  time  there  was  a  disputation  among  the 
schoolmen  regarding  the  right  of  the  popes  to  bestow 
priestly  privileges  on  their  new  favourites.  The 
argument,  however,  caused  little  stir,  as  the  parish 
clergy,  whose  province  was  invaded,  were  seldom 
respected.  Yet  the  bishops  sided  with  them,  as  they 
also  were  suffering  loss.  In  the  system  of  confession 
many  cases — reserved  cases  they  were  styled — were 
referred  to  them.  The  mendicants,  however,  disposed 
of  all  such  business  to  the  financial  loss  of  the  episcopal 
judges,  and  thus  increased  the  number  of  their 
enemies. 

It  was  of  advantage  to  the  cause  of  religion  that  the 
dispensers  of  sacraments  and  the  hearers  of  confessions 
should  be  worthy  of  honour,  and  the  sanctity  of  the 
function  might  have  been  expected  to  conduce  to 
spiritual  decency ;  but  none  the  less  the  friars,  in 
performing  duties  for  which  they  obtained  money, 
suffered  from  the  general  corruption  of  the  Church. 
When  dos^ma  was  but  the  letter  of  reliction  and  ritual 
a  masquerade,  the  Dominicans  arose  to  substitute  the 
spirit  for  the  letter,  and  the  Franciscans  to  show  the 
beauty  of  deeds  of  righteousness;  but  when  they 
assumed  the  functions  of  the  seculars  their  piety  lost 
intensity  and  their  power  passed  into  the  conventional 
authority  of  churchmen. 

Innocent  iv.,  by  a  bull  styled  Crudelissimum  edictum 


198  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


by  the  Dominicans,  curtailed  the  privileges  of  the 
friars,  and,  dying  soon  after  its  publication,  was  said 
to  be  done  to  death  by  their  prayers  ;  while  the  proverb 
had  vogue,  "  a  litaniis  prsedicatorum  libera  nos 
Domine."  John  xxi.,  at  a  later  date,  showed 
antagonism,  and  when  the  falling  roof  of  his  palace 
destroyed  him  the  friars  saw  the  intervention  of  God. 
Honorius  iv.,  too,  perished  when  he  was  about  to  issue 
an  order  regarding  preaching  and  hearing  confessions. 
There  was  no  continuity  in  the  papal  policy,  but  the 
Orders,  down  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 
suffered  but  temporary  loss  of  privileges  once  gained. 

Boniface  viii.,  with  characteristic  imperiousness, 
unrepressed  by  the  tragic  fate  of  predecessors, 
ordained  that  a  friar,  before  preaching  in  a  parish 
church,  must  obtain  permission,  that  a  bishop  could 
prohibit  him  from  hearing  confessions,  and  that  a 
quarter  of  the  fees  or  gifts  he  received  in  a  district 
must  be  given  to  the  priest.  The  struggle  was  not 
yet  ended,  and  one  pope  after  another  was  involved. 
Clement  vi.  received  a  petition  signed  by  cardinals, 
bishops,  and  priests,  asking  him  to  abolish  the  Orders 
or  revoke  their  privileges,  and  made  answer — 

"  And  if  their  preaching  be  stopped,  about  what  can 
you  preach  to  the  people  ?  If  on  humility,  you  your- 
selves are  the  proudest  of  the  world,  arrogant  and 
given  to  pomp.  If  on  poverty,  you  are  the  most 
grasping  and  most  covetous,  so  that  all  the  benefices 
in  the  world  will  not  satisfy  you.  If  on  chastity — but 
we  will  be  silent  on  this,  for  God  knoweth  what 
each  man  does  and  how  many  of  you  satisfy  your 
lusts.  You  hate  the  mendicants  and  shut  your  doors 
on  them  lest  they  should  see  your  mode  of  life,  while 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  199 


you  waste  your  temporal  wealth  on  pimps  and 
swindlers.  You  should  not  complain  if  the  mendicants 
receive  some  temporal  possessions  from  the  dying  to 
whom  they  minister  when  you  have  fled,  nor  that 
they  spend  it  in  buildings  where  everything  is  ordered 
for  the  honour  of  God  and  the  Church,  in  place  of 
wasting  it  in  pleasure  and  licentiousness.  And  because 
you  do  not  likewise,  you  accuse  the  mendicants,  for 
most  of  you  give  yourselves  up  to  vain  and  worldly 
lives." 

Clement's  words  were  a  rebuke  to  men  who  had 
shamefully  neglected  duty.  The  Black  Death  had 
mown  down  multitudes,  and  everywhere  the  friars 
acted  as  ministers  of  mercy,  gaining  gratitude  with 
substantial  reward,  while  the  parish  priests  fled  from 
service.  When  at  last  the  plague  had  passed,  the 
priests,  seeing  the  gains  of  their  opponents,  sought 
Clement's  aid,  and  received  a  deserved  rebuke.  Two 
centuries  later  the  plague  of  1528  showed  that  the 
Franciscans  had  not  forgotten  the  traditions  of  their 
Order.  It  is  difficult,  indeed,  to  understand  how  men 
corrupted  by  wealth  should  have  displayed  the  zeal 
for  which  they  were  commended  by  Clement.  The 
explanation,  of  course,  might  be  that  their  evil  repu- 
tation was  undeserved.  This,  however,  is  certain,  that 
while  there  were  always  men  in  the  Orders  to  soil  their 
fame,  there  were  also  men,  few  at  times  though  they 
were,  who  proved  themselves  worthy  to  bear  the  name 
of  Dominic  or  Francis ;  and  in  days  of  trouble  the 
worthier  sort  carried  with  them  the  baser,  who, 
knowing  how  to  sin,  knew  also  how  to  obey. 

The  struggle  between  the  mendicants  and  the 
parochial  clergy,  which  continued  till  the  Reforma- 


200  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


tion,  presented  within  the  domain  of  Christianity  the 
unholy  spectacle  of  a  contest  for  privilege.  At  the 
fifth  Lateran  Council  a  vigorous  attempt  was  made 
to  end  the  strife  in  favour  of  the  clergy ;  but  Leo  x., 
while  forced  to  listen  to  the  woeful  tale  of  the  clergy, 
feared  to  injure  the  friars,  who  could  make  or  mar 
the  authority  of  a  Bishop  of  Rome. 

With  fine  courtesy  Dante  put  the  praise  of  Francis 
into  the  lips  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  at  the  same  time 
pronounced  a  condemnation  of  the  Dominicans.  Some 
had  returned  to  the  ways  of  Dominic — 

"  But  so  few  they  be, 
That  little  cloth  would  make  their  cowls,  I  trow." 

It  was  Bonaventura  whom  Dante  chose  to  utter 
the  commendation  of  Dominic  and  the  censure  of 
the  Franciscans.  As  a  Dominican  had  described  his 
own  Order,  it  was  fitting  that  this  characterisation  of 
the  Franciscans  should  proceed  from  one  of  them- 
selves— 

"  His  Brotherhood,  that  once  straight  onward  moved 
And  in  his  footsteps  trod,  now  turns  so  far 
That  what  was  foremost  now  is  hindmost  proved." 

Dante  suffered  no  punishment  devised  by  the 
Inquisition,  but  it  is  not  surprising  that  there  should 
be  a  story  that  he  was  required  to  give  assurance  of 
his  faith. 

Receiving  many  favours  from  Rome,  the  mendicants 
were  not  slow  in  their  gratitude  to  emphasise  the 
papal  theory,  the  divinely  appointed  headship  of  the 
pope.  It  was  necessary,  too,  that  they  should  justify 
the  power  which  bestowed  their  privileges.  The 
Franciscan  Alvarus  Pelagius,  to  take  an  example  from 


DEGRxADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  201 


th^  fourteenth  century,  demanded  adoration  for  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  as  a  divine  person,  declaring,  at  the 
same  time,  that  from  the  days  of  St.  Peter  the  Imperium 
Romanum  belonored  to  his  successors.  Amonor  medieval 
writers,  however,  it  was  Thomas  Aquinas  who  stated 
most  clearly  the  theory  that  the  Church  is  centred  in 
the  pope ;  and  it  was  laid  down  by  him,  "  that  to  be 
subject  to  the  Roman  pontiff  is  essential  to  salvation." 
Long  after  the  days  of  the  schoolmen,  when  the 
Councils  of  Constance  and  Basel  had  pronounced 
against  it,  Cardinal  Torquemada  wrote  a  defence  of 
the  papal  theory,  basing  his  argument  on  the  teaching 
of  Aquinas,  and  securing  the  laudation  of  Rome.  The 
infallibility  of  the  pope  might  indeed  have  been  the 
official  doctrine  generations  before  the  Vatican 
Council,  had  not  certain  men  occupied  the  papal 
chair.  The  Babylonish  Captivity,  the  Great  Schism, 
and  the  degradation  of  the  age  preceding  the  Reforma- 
tion were  fatal  to  the  progress  of  that  doctrine ;  as  the 
libertinism  of  the  Court  of  Avignon,  the  feuds  of  rival 
pontiffs,  and  the  vices  of  men  like  Alexander  vi.  and 
Julius  II.  destroyed  popular  esteem  of  the  papacy,  and 
silenced  the  advocates  of  infallibility. 

The  relaxation  of  the  vow  of  poverty  destroyed  the 
harmony  of  the  Franciscan  Order.  Pope  Gregory  ix. 
found  in  Elias  of  Cortona  an  agent  for  his  purposes. 
The  earliest  biographer  of  Francis,  writing  while  Elias 
was  powerful,  represented  the  saint  and  the  Brother  as 
friendly  associates.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
Francis  could  have  mistaken  the  man,  who  was  to  aid 
in  changing  the  character  of  the  Brotherhood  founded 
amidst  glowing  piety  and  poetic  enthusiasm.  There 
is  no  need  to  think  of  Elias  as  another  Judas.  He  was 


202  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


anxious  for  a  religious  reformation,  but  the  love  of 
power  ruined  him  when  he  came  to  govern.  Even 
while  he  lived  in  splendour  no  charge  of  avarice  was 
preferred  against  him,  and  it  is  evident  that  he  be- 
lieved the  sin  of  worldliness  could  be  combated  though 
the  Order  had  great  possessions.  For  five  years  he  had 
governed,  with  the  title  of  vicar,  when  Francis  died ; 
and  it  was  he  who  announced  the  fact  of  the  stigmata 
to  the  Brothers,  and  set  about  the  erection  of  the 
splendid  basilica  which  was  to  contain  the  body.  In 
spite  of  his  prominence,  however,  the  upholders  of  the 
Rule  rejected  him  in  1229,  and  chose  Giovanni  Parenti 
as  minister-general.  Their  fury  was  roused  when  they 
learned  that  money  was  being  gathered  to  meet  the 
expense  of  the  basilica.  In  front  of  the  building  Elias 
had  placed  a  marble  box  for  the  gifts  of  visitors,  and 
it  is  related  that  Friar  Leo  went  to  one  of  his  com- 
panions, asking  if  he  should  break  it.  The  answer 
was  :  "  Yes,  if  you  are  dead  ;  but  if  you  are  alive,  let  it 
alone,  for  you  will  not  be  able  to  endure  the  persecu- 
tions of  Elias."  Leo,  however,  did  not  wait  till  he  was 
dead,  but  with  his  associates  broke  the  box. 

Elias  directed  the  raising  of  the  great  church,  which 
was  worthy  of  the  fame  of  the  saint,  though  singularly 
out  of  harmony  with  his  poverty;  and  at  last,  in  1232, 
he  was  elected  minister-general.  In  his  official  work 
he  proved  a  tyrant.  While  vicar  he  had  caused 
Antony  of  Padua  to  be  scourged,  and  now  he  cast 
Caesarius  of  Spires,  the  provincial  of  Germany,  into  a 
prison,  where  he  died.  In  arbitrary  fashion  he  refused 
to  summon  the  chapter,  till  at  last  the  pope  interfered. 
The  opposition  to  him  was  widespread,  as  the  zealous 
upholders  of  the  Rule  were  joined  by  the  moderate 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  203 


reformers,  such  as  the  friars  in  England,  who  desired 
a  relaxation  in  regard  to  the  pursuit  of  learning  and 
the  holding  of  property.  These  moderate  men  he  had 
harassed  in  their  religious  work,  and  they  determined 
to  have  him  removed.  At  last,  in  1239,  Gregory  caused 
a  chapter  to  be  held,  at  which  he  demanded  the  resig- 
nation of  the  minister-general.  The  pope  and  his 
former  ally  were  now  at  enmity.  Elias  hastened  to 
Frederick  ii.,  the  opponent  of  the  political  power  of 
the  papacy,  and  with  him  suffered  excommunication. 

In  the  legend  of  Francis  it  is  narrated  that  the  saint 
learned  through  a  vision  that  Elias  was  to  revolt 
against  the  Order  and  the  Church,  and  was  to  be 
damned.  He  was  able,  however,  to  have  the  divine 
sentence  reversed,  so  that  Elias,  enlightened  in  his  last 
hour,  died  pardoned  by  the  pope,  and  clothed  in  the 
Franciscan  habit.  Before  this  final  reconciliation  with 
the  Church,  Elias  was  the  supporter  of  Frederick  in 
his  strife  with  Rome,  and  was  even  on  one  occasion 
his  ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Constantinople  ;  but  on 
the  death  of  the  emperor  he  returned  to  Cortona,  where 
he  built  a  magnificent  church  for  the  Franciscans. 

Amidst  the  troubles  within  the  Order  two  parties 
were  formed,  the  Spirituals,  as  they  were  after- 
wards named,  who  professed  strict  adherence  to  the 
Rule,  and  the  Fratres  de  Communitate,  afterwards 
known  as  Conventuals  from  living  in  convents,  who 
desired  its  relaxation  as  experience  dictated.  One 
party  was  in  power,  and  then  another.  Thus  Cresen- 
tius,  who  was  minister-general  from  1244  to  1248, 
followed  the  example  of  Elias,  and,  loving  the  display 
of  wealth  and  showing  a  special  aversion  to  poor 
dwellings,  erected  splendid  monasteries.    At  the  same 


204  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


time  he  tried  to  induce  the  friars  to  pursue  learning. 
John  of  Parma,  who  followed,  was  welcomed  by  the 
Spirituals  as  a  saviour  of  the  Order. 

The  question  of  poverty  continued  to  disturb  the 
Franciscans  down  to  the  century  of  the  Reformation. 
It  affected  imperial  politics  when  Lewis  of  Bavaria 
and  John  xxii.  were  at  strife,  and  called  forth  a  mass 
of  writings,  associated  with  such  names  as  Alexander 
of  Hales,  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  William  of  Occam. 
Hales,  one  of  the  writers  of  the  Declaratio  Quatuor 
Magistrorum,  sought  to  justify  the  changes  inspired 
by  Gregory  ix. ;  but  he  failed  to  pacify  the  rigorous 
Spirituals,  who  would  allow  no  relaxation,  thinking 
to  work  out  their  salvation  through  the  severities  of 
asceticism.  They  belonged  to  the  great  order  of  fana- 
tics, existing  before  and  through  the  Christian  cen- 
turies, who  for  a  spiritual  offering  render  to  God  the 
sacrifice  of  their  emaciated  or  broken  bodies.  The 
temperament  which  led  them  to  asceticism  led  them 
to  rebel  against  the  Church,  which  fostered  the  Con- 
ventuals in  their  freedom;  and  their  pride  of  faith 
prepared  them  for  the  doctrine  that  a  new  religious 
era  was  at  hand.  This  doctrine  was  ascribed  to 
Joachim  of  Flora,  the  Baptist  of  St.  Francis,  as  Renan 
styled  him,  whose  reputation  in  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century  reached  a  prominence  to  which  it 
had  not  attained  in  his  own  generation. 

In  three  prophetic  writings  Joachim,  who  lived  in 
the  last  generation  of  the  twelfth  century,  declares 
that  there  are  three  ages  in  the  world's  history, — the 
first  under  the  rule  of  the  Father,  the  second  under 
that  of  the  Son,  and  the  third  under  that  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.    The  second  age,  of  the  Son,  was  to  endure  for 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  205 


1260  years,  while  the  third  was  to  be  the  age  of  per- 
fection. 

In  1254  a  book  was  published,  The  Everlasting 
Gospel,  containing  Joachim's  three  writings  with  an 
introduction,  in  which  the  evils  of  the  Church  were 
displayed  and  his  prophetic  warnings  applied.  The 
Order  of  St.  Francis,  it  was  set  forth,  was  to  absorb 
all  other  Orders,  and  was  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Church  itself.  In  this  religious  society  men  were  to 
live  at  peace,  were  to  have  all  things  in  common,  and 
misery  was  to  disappear  from  their  midst.  That 
which  was  most  characteristic  was  the  statement  that 
the  eternal  gospel  was  revealed  by  Francis,  the  angel 
of  Revelation  xiv.  6,  and  that  in  1260  it  would  replace 
Christ's  gospel.  John  of  Parma,  charged  with  being 
the  writer,  was  compelled  to  resign  his  office  of 
minister-general,  though  the  real  author,  as  was 
afterwards  believed,  was  Gherardo  da  Borgo  San 
Donnino,  who  was  condemned  to  imprisonment  for 
life  for  the  crime  of  publishing  the  book.  John  of 
Parma  himself  was  tried,  but  acquitted.  The  book 
was  officially  condemned  in  1255 ;  but  none  the  less, 
on  account  of  its  expression  of  opposition  to  the 
Church,  and  its  promise  of  an  ideal  age  of  simplicity, 
it  intensified  division  among  the  Franciscans. 

The  Conventuals,  taking  advantage  of  the  troubles 
caused  by  the  publication  of  TJie  Everlasting  Gospel, 
instigated  Alexander  iv.  to  renew  the  interpretation 
of  the  Rule,  made  by  Innocent  iv.,  so  as  to  allow 
agents  to  manage  and  the  Holy  See  to  hold  property 
for  the  Order.  Gregory  x.,  in  1275,  endeavoured  to 
reverse  this  policy,  and  to  secure  strict  obedience  to 
the  Rule,  but  his  effort  was  vain.    Nicholas  iii.,  under- 


2o6  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


taking  a  final  settlement  of  the  question,  published 
the  bull  Exiit  qui  seminal,  which  simply  continued 
the  arrangement  proposed  by  Innocent  iv.  The 
siofnificant  declaration  was  made  that  Christ  and  the 
apostles  had  renounced  the  possession  of  all  property. 

In  due  time  a  statute  of  the  Order  enacted  that 
there  should  be  a  procurator  attached  to  each  house, 
to  receive  money  for  the  friars  in  name  of  the  Church. 
This  was  done  "to  preserve  the  Order  in  its  purity, 
and  prevent  the  brethren  being  immersed  in  secular 
affairs."  In  spite  of  the  bull  the  strife  was  not 
finished.  Brothers  who  refused  to  beg  for  money 
were  imprisoned  by  their  superiors.  At  last  the 
Spirituals  appealed  to  Clement  v.  to  disjoin  them  from 
the  Conventuals.  The  pope  was  sympathetic,  and 
though  not  agreeing  to  separation,  issued  a  decree 
protecting  them  from  persecution.  During  the  nego- 
tiations the  extremists  among  the  Italian  Spirituals 
seceded  in  their  impatience  and  elected  a  minister- 
general.  Clement  was  enraged,  and  the  machinery 
of  the  Inquisition  was  put  in  use.  His  successor, 
John  XXII.,  resolved  on  stamping  out  insubordination, 
issued  a  bull,  Quorumdam,  giving  superiors  the  right 
to  determine  the  vestments  of  the  friars,  and  also  the 
amount  of  grain,  wine,  and  oil  to  be  stored  in  a 
convent.  Vestments  and  stores  were  burning  ques- 
tions, and  the  pope  answered  them  in  common  sense 
fashion.  The  extreme  Spirituals,  however,  holding 
that  the  garments  should  be  but  the  simplest  cover- 
ings, and  that  storage  of  food  indicated  a  mistrust  in 
providence,  denied  the  right  of  the  pope  to  interfere 
with  what  they  counted  gospel  teaching  regarding 
poverty.    The  pope  declared  in  reply,  that  the  rejec- 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  207 


tion  of  the  bull  would  be  punished  as  a  heresy.  Thus 
was  a  new  heresy  created,  and  the  inquisitors,  Domin- 
ican and  Franciscan,  pursued  many  of  the  Spirituals 
to  death. 

In  the  south  of  France  there  were  violent  opponents 
of  Pope  John,  who  saw  in  him  the  anti-Christ,  and  in 
the  Church  the  harlot  of  the  Apocalypse.  These  men 
had  been  moved  by  the  prophecies  of  Peter  John  Olivi, 
who  had  arisen  in  the  latter  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  by  his  disciple  Ubertino  of  Casale,  who 
identified  the  papacy  with  the  beast  which  rose  out 
of  the  sea  (Rev.  xiii.).  Under  the  teaching  of  Olivi, 
himself  influenced  by  Joachim  of  Flora,  some  of  the 
extreme  Spirituals  of  his  own  day,  obtaining  per- 
mission from  Coelestine  v.,  settled  in  Greece  and  on 
some  of  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago.  There  they 
continued,  and  Boniface  viii.,  endeavouring  to  dislodge 
them,  met  with  violent  resistance. 

The  application  of  the  idea  of  anti-Christ  to  a  pope 
was  not  new.  In  Swabia,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  Dominicans  had  tauijfht  that  Innocent  iv.  was  anti- 
Christ,  and  the  emperor  his  scourge.  "  There  were  two 
Churches,"  to  use  the  words  of  the  French  Spirituals, 
quoted  in  a  papal  bull,  "  one  carnal,  overburdened  with 
possessions,  overflowing  with  wealth,  polluted  with 
wickedness,  over  which  ruled  the  Roman  pontiff  and 
the  inferior  bishops :  one  spiritual,  frugal,  without  un- 
cleanness,  admirable  for  its  virtue,  with  poverty  for 
its  raiment ;  it  contained  only  the  Spirituals  and  their 
associates,  and  was  ruled  by  men  of  spiritual  life 
alone."  The  pope,  John  xxii.,  not  content  with  the 
bull  from  which  these  words  are  taken,  resorted  to 
the  Inquisition.     His  enemies  were  violent,  and  he 


2o8  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


would  silence  them ;  but,  far  off  though  they  were, 
they  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Reformation, 
when  attacking  the  sanctity  of  popes  and  making 
common  the  thouo^ht  that  the  existinor  Church  was  not 
identified  with  true  religion. 

While  the  Inquisition  was  doing  its  dread  work, 
events  presented  a  new  and  serious  issue.  A  Domin- 
ican condemned  the  statement,  made  by  one  of  the 
heretics,  that  Christ  had  no  possessions.  The  Fran- 
ciscans, led  by  Berengar  Taloni  of  Narbonne,  delib- 
erated, and  in  the  general  chapter  held  in  1322 
formally  decided  in  favour  of  the  doctrine.  The  bull 
of  Nicholas  ill.  was  brought  forward,  which  declared 
that  Christ  and  the  Apostles  possessed  nothing.  In 
due  course  an  appeal  was  made  to  John,  who,  without 
definite  pronouncement  on  the  question  regarding 
Christ,  discussed  the  practice  of  the  Roman  See 
holding  property  for  the  Order,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  declarations  of  predecessors,  decided  that  it  must 
cease.  A  protest  was  made,  and  in  the  reply — the 
bull  Cum  inter  nonnullos,  issued  1323 — John  asserted 
that  the  doctrine  that  Christ  possessed  nothing  was 
contrary  to  scripture.  The  Franciscans  as  a  Brother- 
hood were  now  in  open  revolt  from  the  pope ;  while 
the  Spirituals,  along  with  Michael  of  Cesena,  the 
minister-general,  and  William  of  Occam,  going  further, 
supported  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  who  had  been  excom- 
municated for  assuming  the  title  of  King  of  the 
Romans.  In  the  Protest  of  Sachsenhausen,  inspired 
by  Franciscans,  Lewis  examined  the  pope's  treatment 
of  the  Order,  charged  him  with  heresy,  and  demanded 
a  General  Council.  A  spiritual  opposition  against  the 
papacy  had  now  been  created. 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  209 


The  battle  continued.  Michael  of  Cesena,  in  a 
Tractate  against  the  Errors  of  the  Pope,"  declared 
that  popes  can  err,  and  advocated  the  calling  of  a 
council  for  the  reform  of  the  Church.  William  of 
Occam  entered  the  contest,  and  in  many  writings 
denied  the  claim  of  the  popes  to  interfere  in  politics, 
declared  an  earthly  headship  of  the  Church  to  be 
unnecessary,  and  rejected  papal  infallibility.  The 
most  powerful  of  the  disputants  was  Marsiglio  of 
Padua,  who  in  the  Defensor  Pads  separated  the 
temporal  from  the  spiritual  power,  and  so  limited  the 
spiritual  as  to  destroy  the  idea  of  the  papacy.  Thus 
again,  in  the  contest  regarding  the  Franciscan  Rule, 
were  heard  the  distant  sounds  of  the  Reformation. 

In  due  time  the  Conventuals  returned  to  papal 
obedience,  while  the  extreme  Spirituals,  as  the  Fraticelli 
in  Italy,  were  treated  as  heretics.  The  general  chapter 
of  1329  deposed  Michael  of  Cesena,  and  once  more 
adopted  the  theory  that  the  Order  had  the  use  with- 
out the  ownership  of  property.  William  of  Occam, 
who  had  been  excommunicated,  remained  till  1347 
with  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  and  in  1349,  stripped  by 
death  of  many  of  his  companions,  and  feeling  the 
pain  of  isolation,  sought  reconciliation  with  the 
Church. 

Mendicancy  in  itself  was  doubtless  an  economic 
blunder,  even  a  vice,  and  Wiclif  in  England  openly 
condemned  it.  Poverty,  not  licensed  mendicancy, 
entered  into  the  ideal  of  Francis;  and  certainly 
the  combination  of  possessing  property  and  begging 
alms  formed  no  part  of  his  scheme  of  life.  The 
Conventual  was  worldly,  the  Spiritual  fanatical,  and 
neither  followed  the  founder.  It  was  by  no  illogical 
^4 


210  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


step,  however,  that  the  extreme  Franciscans,  holding 
the  true  Church  to  be  a  religious  society,  opposed  the 
institution  with  the  pope  as  head.  Their  dominant 
theory  required  all  clerics  to  be  poor,  to  be  stripped 
of  social  privileges,  and  cut  off  from  political  concerns. 
Hence,  too,  there  was  no  contradiction  when  they 
ranged  themselves  with  the  emperor  as  the  reformer 
or  destroyer  of  a  Church  denying  the  virtue  of 
poverty. 

The  persecution  of  the  Spirituals  was  continued  by 
one  pope  after  another.  Ultimately  they  triumphed 
when  the  Brethren  of  the  Hermitages,  strict  observants 
of  the  Rule,  obtained  confirmation.  At  the  Council 
of  Constance,  some  years  after  Bernardine  of  Siena, 
their  recognised  founder,  had  attained  notoriety,  the 
Observantines  were  formally  recognised  and  their  separ- 
ation ratified.  The  powerful  Conventuals  objected  to 
an  arrangement  which  curtailed  their  authority,  but 
little  respect  was  paid  to  men  with  a  reputation  which 
made  Pius  ii.  declare,  that  while  excellent  as  theologians 
they  were  little  concerned  with  virtue.  At  last  Leo  x., 
to  end  the  strife,  gave  the  Observantines  the  right  to 
select  a  minister-general. 

The  Observantines,  in  the  century  before  the  Re- 
formation, attracted  men  zealous  for  austerity  of  con- 
duct, and  their  organisation  marked  a  revival  in  the 
degraded  Franciscan  Order.  Capuchins,  Cordeliers, 
Alcantarines  were  names  testifying  to  the  strictness 
with  which  in  varied  degree  the  Rule  of  St.  Francis 
was  observed. 

No  fierce  contest  regarding  property  divided  the 
Dominicans,  who,  shortly  after  their  organisation, 
ceased  in  all  but  name  to  be  poor.    A  chapter  held 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  211 


in  Paris,  1228,  determined  the  Consuetudines  fratrum 
prcediccitoi'um,  according  to  which  houses  of  moderate 
size  were  to  be  occupied,  though  no  other  property 
was  to  be  held.  No  time  elapsed,  however,  till  the 
Dominicans,  agreeing  with  the  Conventuals,  decided 
that  the  Brotherhood,  exclusive  of  individuals,  had 
rights  of  possession.  This  decision  produced  no  zealots 
eager  for  a  harsh  ascetic  ideal. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Degradation  of  the  Orders — continued 

The  decadence  of  the  friars  was  illustrated  in  their 
service  as  ecclesiastical  police.  That  degradation, 
however,  was  not  as  gross  as  the  corruption  by 
wealth.  None  the  less,  it  told  the  tale  of  lost  ideals, 
of  spiritual  enthusiasm  sunk  into  official  activity,  of 
devotion  to  Christ  lowered  into  zeal  for  the  Church. 
The  mendicant  revival  had  quickened  piety,  but  it 
had  neither  elevated  clerical  life  nor  purified  papal 
policies,  though  the  inefficiency  of  priests  and  the 
worldliness  of  popes  had  created  the  need  for  Francis 
and  Dominic.  Ugolini's  determination  to  attach  the 
Minorites  to  the  Roman  Curia,  unnecessary  in  the 
case  of  the  Preachers,  resulted  in  the  loss  to  many 
of  the  Brothers  of  that  unconventional  zeal  for  the 
cure  of  souls  which  the  genius  of  Francis  had  inspired. 
It  became  a  custom  with  popes  to  depute  Franciscans 
or  Dominicans  to  deal  with  local  disputes ;  and  while 
it  was  beneficial  to  have  reliable  commissioners,  it  was 
mean  work  for  evangelists  to  act  as  parochial  judges, 
and  to  serve  as  police  prying  into  the  ways  of  prelates 
and  priests.  The  popes,  however,  learned  the  use  and 
clung  to  the  advantage  of  having  at  their  command 
an  army  to  enforce  their  authority  over  all  clerics  in 
Christendom. 

212 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  213 


Never  were  the  mendicants  further  from  the  pur- 
poses of  the  founders  of  their  Orders  than  when 
acting  as  servants  of  the  Roman  bishops,  with  their 
schemes  of  temporal  supremacy.  In  the  protracted 
and  fierce  quarrel  between  the  Church  and  the  Emperor 
Frederick  ii.  friars  made  themselves  conspicuous,  and 
unholy  was  their  work.  Now  they  had  to  preach 
as  apologists  for  the  Church's  action,  now  to  stir  the 
emperor's  subjects  to  rebellion,  telling  scandalous  tales 
to  soil  his  fame.  Frederick  had  taken  the  crusader's 
vow  in  the  time  of  Innocent  iil.,  promising  to  lead 
a  host  to  the  East;  and  this  vow  he  renewed  when 
crowned  by  Honorius  III.  He  was  in  no  hurry,  how- 
ever, to  seek  the  Holy  Land ;  and  when  he  set  sail 
at  last,  in  1227,  it  was  only  to  turn  back  his  ships 
after  two  or  three  days  on  the  sea.  Gregory  ix.,  the 
successor  of  Honorius,  thereupon  passed  sentence  of 
excommunication.  Frederick  was  little  disturbed  by 
the  thought  that  he  was  now  a  spiritual  outcast,  and 
after  the  lapse  of  a  year  departed  to  visit  the  places 
hallowed  by  the  Saviour's  steps.  Probably  he  expected 
to  be  freed  from  the  ecclesiastical  ban  when  by 
diplomacy  or  arms  he  had  crowned  the  crusade  with 
success,  but  his  hope  was  frustrated  on  learning  that 
Gregory  had  commissioned  two  Franciscan  friars  to 
warn  loyal  churchmen  in  the  East  to  hold  no  converse 
with  the  excommunicated  man.  The  Franciscans,  out- 
stripping Frederick,  executed  their  business  with 
singular  zeal.  The  emperor  was  shunned  as  an  out- 
cast from  Christ,  scorned  as  an  enemy  of  His  cross. 

Returning  to  Europe,  Frederick  banished  the  Fran- 
ciscans from  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  of  which  he  was 
sovereign,  as  they  were  involved  in  a  rebellion.  The 


214  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


leaders,  indeed,  were  certain  Franciscan  and  Dominican 
professors  of  the  university.  A  peace  was  soon 
negotiated  with  the  Church,  but  in  the  enmity  from 
rival  interests  Gregory,  in  1239,  renewed  the  excom- 
munication, and  henceforth  there  was  open  strife 
between  the  Hohenstaufen  and  the  popes,  till  the 
House  of  Swabia  fell.  The  publication  of  the  ban 
was  entrusted  to  the  Franciscans,  whose  minister- 
general,  Elias  of  Cortona,  had  just  sought  refuge 
in  the  imperial  Court;  and  after  preaching  revolt  in 
Guelf  and  even  in  Ghibelline  cities,  they  were  again 
expelled  from  the  kingdom. 

Gregory  died,  and  in  due  time  Innocent  IV.,  eager  in 
his  spite  to  humiliate  and  in  his  pride  to  crush  the 
emperor,  sent  out  the  friars  as  tale-bearers.  They 
were  commissioned  to  tell  how  Frederick  neglected 
the  exercises  of  religion,  was  a  heretic  favouring  Mo- 
hammedanism, and  as  a  follower  of  the  Prophet  kept 
a  harem  of  Saracen  women.  Effective  scandalmongers 
they  proved,  and,  acting  for  a  pope,  were  not  ashamed. 
Innocent,  however,  was  not  content  with  mere  defama- 
tion, and,  after  renewing  the  excommunication  at 
the  Council  of  Lyons,  in  1245,  desired  to  pose  as 
another  Hildebrand  and  cast  down  the  mighty.  The 
imperial  throne  was  declared  vacant  by  the  lips  of 
Dominican  emissaries,  who  spoke  as  for  the  vicar  of 
Christ.  Then  the  prelates  of  the  Rhine,  assuming 
the  function  of  the  electors  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  named,  with  his  own  consent,  Henry  Raspe, 
Landgrave  of  Thuringia,  the  king  of  the  Romans. 
The  pope  requiring  confidential  agents,  chose  them 
from  the  Franciscan  and  Dominican  Brothers,  who 
passed  from  Rome  to  Germany  carrying  messages 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  215 


and  money ;  and  desiring  preachers  to  declare  the 
cause  of  Henry  to  be  the  cause  of  religion,  found  them 
among  the  friars.  The  papal  plot,  however,  came  to 
nothing  when  Frederick's  son,  Conrad,  defeated  the 
Landgrave.  Thouo^h  the  scheme  failed,  the  wrath  of 
the  Bishops  of  Rome  against  the  House  of  Swabia 
seemed  as  if  it  could  not  die ;  and  in  1251,  when 
Frederick  was  dead,  the  Franciscans  were  despatched 
in  one  direction  and  the  Dominicans  in  another  to 
inaugurate  a  crusade  against  the  prince,  who  had  dared 
to  oppose  the  "  clergy's  king." 

The  political  services  of  the  friars  were  not  con- 
fined to  the  campaign  against  Frederick.  Matthew 
Paris,  referring  to  the  year  1236,  wrote :  "  The  Fran- 
ciscans and  Dominicans  were  counsellors  and  envoys 
of  princes,  and  even  secretaries  to  our  lord  the  pope, 
thus  securing  to  themselves  too  much  secular  favour  " ; 
and  again,  naming  the  year  1239,  "at  that  time 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans  were  the  counsellors 
and  special  envoys  of  kings;  and  as  formerly  those 
clothed  in  soft  raiment  were  in  kings'  houses,  so  at 
this  time  those  clothed  in  vile  raiment  were  in  the 
houses,  the  halls,  and  the  palaces  of  princes."  In 
France  the  Dominicans  acted  as  royal  confessors  till 
1387,  when  trouble  arose  on  account  of  their  opposition 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Virgin.  The  same  position  they  occupied  in  Spain,  till 
they  were  supplanted  by  the  Jesuits. 

The  association  of  the  Orders  with  the  university  of 
Paris  forms  a  remarkable  episode  in  their  history, 
illustrating  the  masterful  and  assertive  character  which 
roused  jealousy,  and  testifying  to  the  spirit  which 
neglected  poverty  for  position,  and  forsook  humility 


2l6 


FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


for  traffic  in  privilege.  Within  the  first  generation  of 
the  Brotherhoods  the  members  were  at  strife  with  the 
leaders  of  the  university  of  Paris,  who  sought  to 
preserve  their  independence  and  to  retain  the  estab- 
lished privileges  for  the  secular  clerg}^  The  new 
favourites  of  Rome  were  loaded  with  many  benefits, 
and  in  protest  the  university  authorities  laboured  first 
to  prevent  their  invasion  as  teachers,  and  then  to  limit 
their  seizure  of  chairs,  asserting  for  the  Church  of 
France,  at  a  later  period,  that  partial  autonomy  known 
as  Gallicanism,  and  setting  forth  the  theory  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  Catholic  Church  over  popes,  which 
was  informally  adopted  by  the  councils  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  widely  accepted  by  thoughtful  men  in 
the  dawn  of  the  Reformation. 

The  contest  between  the  mendicants  and  the  univer- 
sity of  Paris  began  in  1229,  when,  owing  to  a  quarrel 
with  the  civic  authorities,  the  university  was  closed. 
The  Dominicans,  led  by  Roland  of  Cremona,  using  the 
opportunity  to  their  own  advantage,  not  only  refused 
to  cease  from  teaching,  but  welcomed  to  their  classes 
students  unattached  to  their  Order.  When  the  uni- 
versity was  reopened  a  second  Dominican  chair  was 
erected,  and  filled  by  John  of  St.  Giles,  the  friend  of 
Grosseteste ;  while  Alexander  of  Hales,  a  former  master 
among  the  seculars,  having  joined  the  Minorites,  began 
to  teach  in  the  convent  of  the  Brotherhood.  The 
seculars,  determined  to  conserve  their  privileges, 
limited  the  licences  to  doctors,  which  carried  the 
right  to  lecture.  In  vain,  however,  they  struggled 
against  men  with  the  favour  of  Rome,  and  in  1250  a 
papal  bull  enjoined  the  chancellor  of  the  university 
to  bestow  the  licence  upon  such  friars  as  he  found 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  217 


qualified.  The  troubles  were  not  at  an  end.  The 
mendicants  refusing,  on  the  occasion  of  another  riot, 
to  side  with  the  authorities,  were  excluded  from  the 
Society  of  Masters.  Again,  they  would  not  take  the 
oath  of  obedience  to  the  statutes,  and  were  expelled 
from  the  university.  An  appeal  to  Rome  secured  the 
usual  help  to  the  friars,  but  the  university  in  turn 
proved  disobedient  to  the  bull  requiring  the  restora- 
tion of  the  teaching:  rigrhts.  Alexander  iv.  at  last,  in 
1255,  by  the  bull  Quasi  lignum  vitce,  established  the 
mendicants  in  all  the  privileges  which  had  been  lost, 
and  thus  for  a  time  rendered  them  victorious  in  their 
contest  with  the  secular  clergy  in  the  university. 

In  the  midst  of  the  appeals  to  Rome  a  translation  of 
TJie  Everlasting  Gospel  was  published  in  Paris,  and  as 
the  Introduction  was  ascribed  to  John  of  Parma,  the 
seculars  secured  an  opportunity  of  opposing  the  Fran- 
ciscans, and  criticising  the  whole  system  of  mendicancy. 
They  demanded  the  condemnation  of  the  book,  but  in 
the  controversy  into  which  they  entered  they  were 
defeated.  Their  champion,  William  of  St.  Amour, 
having  attacked  the  Preachers  and  Minorites,  irritat- 
ing them  by  abusive  sermons,  was  himself  in  danger 
of  being  censured  or  punished  when  it  was  known 
that  he  had  written  or  inspired  The  Perils  of  the  Last 
Times.  In  this  tract  the  pope  was  blamed  for  allow- 
ing vagrants  to  preach  and  hear  confessions,  and  the 
flattery  and  lying  in  mendicancy  were  exposed.  The 
friars  were  described  as  the  precursors  of  anti-Christ,  as 
the  false  teachers  of  the  last  times,  and  were  likened 
unto  the  Pharisees.  They  were  confronted  with  the 
precept,  "  If  any  man  would  not  work,  neither  should 
he  eat."     "  It  is  a  work  of  perfection,"  the  writer  said, 


21 8  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


"  for  Christ's  sake  to  leave  all  and  follow  Him  in  doing 
that  which  is  good,  not  by  begging,  for  this  is  a  thing 
forbidden  by  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  who  has  renounced 
all  earthly  goods  in  order  to  strive  after  perfection, 
must  either  support  himself  by  the  labour  of  his 
own  hands  or  seek  his  maintenance  in  a  monastery." 
Another  argument,  not  without  force,  was  used : 
"  Were  it  a  sin  to  wear,  under  befitting  circumstances, 
a  costly  garment,  Christ  would  not  have  worn  that 
seamless  coat,  which  in  relation  to  His  poverty  must 
have  been  costly  enough." 

Thomas  Aquinas,  in  the  treatise  Contra  impug- 
nantes  Dei  cultum  et  religionem,  justified  the  intrusion 
of  the  Dominicans  into  the  province  of  the  clergy, 
and  defended  them  from  charges  of  immorality.  He 
maintained  that  few  of  the  seculars  had  studied  the 
scriptures,  and  that  pious  men  did  not  exist  among 
them  to  serve  all  the  parishes,  while,  as  a  contrast,  the 
mendicants  had  destroyed  heresy  in  many  places, 
converted  infidels,  instructed  the  ignorant,  and  turned 
the  careless  to  repentance. 

For  the  Franciscans,  Bonaventura  appeared,  pointing 
in  De  paupertate  Christi  to  the  example  of  Christ  as 
a  plea  for  poverty  and  mendicancy,  and  assailing  in 
the  Libellus  Apologetieus  the  seculars  for  worldliness 
and  vice. 

The  controversy  in  defence  and  attack  displayed  the 
divisions  of  the  Catholic  Church,  revealing  the  degrada- 
tion of  the  secular  clergy,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
tyranny  and  avarice  of  the  mendicants. 

The  king  of  France  submitted  St.  Amour's  tract  to 
the  pope,  and  the  university,  though  knowing  the 
writing  would  be  condemned  at  Rome,  sent  commis- 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  219 


sioners,  among  whom  was  St.  Amour  himself,  in  its 
defence.  The  Everlasting  Gospel,  with  the  Introduc- 
tion, was  the  first  of  the  books  to  be  censured,  and 
then  came  the  papal  pronouncement  on  The  Perils  of 
the  Last  Times,  which  was  declared  to  be  scandalous 
and  pernicious.  St.  Amour  was  silenced,  and  the 
seculars  lost  their  champion.  The  mendicants,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  undisturbed  by  the  condemnation 
of  the  new  gospel  of  the  extreme  Franciscans,  and  lost 
none  of  their  privileges. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  the  quarrel,  the  author 
of  the  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages 
says :  "  Till  now  there  had  been  no  reason  whatever 
for  any  hostile  feeling  against  the  papacy  on  the  part 
of  the  university.  .  .  .  The  alliance  between  the  Holy 
See  and  the  mendicants  sowed  the  seeds  of  Gallicanism 
in  the  university  which  was  to  be  its  stronghold." 

It  may  have  been  ambition  which  prompted  the 
mendicants  to  intrude  themselves  into  the  university  of 
Paris,  and  certainly  they  pursued  a  high-handed  policy 
in  securing  recognition  as  teachers.  Their  action, 
however,  may  bear  another  interpretation.  The  Aristo- 
telian renascence  threatened  danger  to  the  dogma,  so 
long  as  the  Church  wantonly  abused  philosophy ;  but 
the  mendicants  had  wisdom  to  see  the  advantage  of 
pressing  philosophy  into  the  service  of  religion.  It 
was  a  noble  purpose,  then,  if  the  mendicants  struggled 
for  university  recognition,  that  there  might  be  men  to 
rescue  Aristotelianism  from  the  hands  of  the  heretics 
and  employ  it  in  the  cause  of  truth.  Yet  whatever 
end  in  view  they  had,  and  it  may  have  been  worthy 
of  seekers  after  wisdom,  the  Dominicans  sought 
privileges  as  if  they  were  not  consecrated  to  poverty, 


220  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


and  the  Franciscans  engaged  in  strife  as  if  they  had 
never  meant  to  conquer  the  world  by  love. 

The  darkest  page  in  the  story  of  the  friars  is  the 
record  of  their  licentiousness.  Legend  tells  that  one 
of  the  Brothers  learned  through  revelation  that  the 
devils  met  in  council  once  a  year  to  devise  means 
for  destroying  the  Franciscan  Order,  and  that  three 
special  means  were  always  favoured,  "familiarity 
with  women,  reception  of  unprofitable  members,  and 
handling  of  money."  There  were  indeed  men,  through- 
out the  whole  history  of  the  Orders,  who,  quickly 
losing  their  pious  enthusiasm,  or  never  having  had 
either  piety  or  enthusiasm,  found  in  mendicancy  oppor- 
tunities for  vice,  and  dishonoured  the  rank  to  which 
they  had  attained.  Bonaventura's  many  warnings 
to  his  Brothers  to  keep  themselves  unspotted  from 
sensuality  showed  the  extent  and  gravity  of  their 
offences.  Other  men  were  tempted  into  the  Orders 
by  a  love  of  wealth,  which  condemned  their  profession. 
The  unprofitable  servants  were  many,  and  gave  to  the 
Brotherhoods  that  evil  reputation,  from  which  the 
good  men  who  had  taken  the  name  and  had  the  mind 
of  Francis  or  Dominic  could  not  be  saved.  George 
Buchanan,  in  the  verse  of  Franciscanus,  set  forth  that 
those  who  entered  the  Order  were  the  law-breaker, 
the  ignoramus,  the  gambler,  the  voluptuary,  the 
wretch  diseased  in  mind  and  body.  Erasmus,  lashing 
the  mendicants  with  his  scorn,  aided  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation.  His  pictures  of  the  Franciscans  shows 
the  base  condition  to  which  they  had  been  lowered 
by  lust,  greed,  ignorance,  and  pride. 

"  St.  Francis,"  he  wrote  in  one  of  his  epistles,  "  came 
lately  to  me  in  a  dream  and  thanked  me  for  chas- 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  221 


tising  them.  He  was  not  dressed  as  they  now  paint 
him.  His  frock  was  brown,  the  wool  undyed  as  it 
came  from  the  sheep;  the  hood  was  not  peaked,  but 
hung  behind  to  cover  the  head  in  bad  weather.  The 
cord  was  a  piece  of  rope  from  a  farmyard ;  the  frock 
itself  did  not  reach  his  ankles.  He  had  no  fine  shoes. 
His  feet  were  bare.  Of  the  five  wounds  I  saw  not 
a  trace.  .  .  .  They  (the  friars)  go  about  begging  with 
forged  testimonials,  which  serve  for  a  passport,  and  now 
they  have  made  the  notable  discovery  that  a  rich  man, 
alarmed  for  his  sins,  may  buy  a  share  in  the  merits  of 
the  Order  if  he  is  buried  in  the  Franciscan  habit.  They 
demand  admission  at  private  houses,  to  come  and  go  as 
they  please,  invited  or  uninvited,  and  the  owner  dares 
not  refuse.  What  slavery  is  this  !  A  man  with  young 
sons  and  daughters,  and  a  wife  not  past  her  prime,  must 
take  a  stranger  into  his  family  whether  he  likes  it  or 
not — Spaniard,  Italian,  French,  English,  Irish,  Scotch, 
German,  or  Indian — and  the  secrets  of  his  household 
are  exposed  to  all  the  world.  Wise  men  know  that  in 
such  a  multitude  not  all  are  pure.  Monks  are  often 
sent  on  their  travels  because  they  have  misconducted 
themselves ;  and,  even  supposing  them  sober  and  chaste, 
they  are  made  of  the  same  flesh  as  other  men.  I  have 
heard  many  stories  of  what  has  happened  in  such 
circumstances.  They  pretend  that  they  have  no  other 
means  of  living.  Why  should  they  live  at  all  ?  What 
is  the  use  of  these  mendicant  vagabonds  ?  Not  many 
of  them  teach  the  gospel,  and  if  they  must  needs 
travel,  they  have  houses  of  their  own  Order  to  go  to." 

The  fulness  of  time  was  reached  for  a  religious 
revolution  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  successors  of 
the  men  who  quickened  piety  in  the  thirteenth  century, 


222  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


and  widened  the  bounds  of  Christianity  by  heroic 
missions,  were  of  those  who  made  reformation  the  one 
thing  needful  for  the  Church.  They  were  not  sinners 
above  all  men,  but  professing  much  were  accordingly 
judged.  Many  were  luxurious  who  had  taken  the  vow 
of  poverty,  unclean  when  they  should  have  been  pure, 
haughty  instead  of  lowly,  and  the  good  deeds  of  the 
Orders  were  overshadowed  by  the  sins.  Had  Dominic 
come  back  to  earth  he  would  have  chastised  his 
Brothers ;  and  Francis,  had  he  returned,  would  have 
found  a  mission  to  lead  his  friars  to  Christ. 

At  the  Reformation  the  Orders  were  not  swept 
away,  but  before  the  day  of  Martin  Luther  their  glory 
had  departed,  and  within  the  Roman  Church  the 
Jesuits  were  to  take  the  place  of  distinction.  Ignatius 
Loyola  kept  the  example  of  Francis  and  Dominic 
before  his  eyes,  and  it  is  recorded  that  he  asked 
himself:  Quid  si  ego  hoc  agerem  quod  fecit  beatus 
Franciscus,  quid  si  hoc  quod  beatus  Dominicus  ? — What 
if  I  should  do  as  St.  Francis,  what  if  I  should  do  as 
St.  Dominic  did  ? 

Protestantism  roused  the  Dominicans  to  fierceness, 
and  preserved  them  for  many  years  to  notable  service 
in  the  Church.  Their  passion  for  the  Inquisition 
burned  again,  and  Spain  under  Philip  ii.  licensed  their 
carnage.  The  Cardinals  Caraffa  and  Burgos,  members 
of  the  Dominican  Order,  counselled  the  pope  to 
establish  the  Inquisition  in  Rome,  as  the  one  sure 
means  of  crushing  throughout  Italy  the  spirit  of 
inquiry,  which  was  touching  established  doctrines. 
"As  St.  Peter,"  said  CarafFa,  "vanquished  the  first 
heresiarchs  nowhere  but  in  Rome,  so  ought  Peter's 
successors  to  trample  down  all  the  heresies  of  the 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  223 


world  in  Rome."  The  Inquisition  was  set  up  and  did 
its  work  with  ruthless  vengeance,  ending  the  religious 
revival,  such  as  it  was,  which  was  quickened  at  the 
renascence  of  letters  and  fostered  in  some  measure  by 
the  Protestantism  of  Germany.  Italy  was  purged  of 
heresy.  "  Nearly  the  whole  Order  of  Franciscans," 
Ranke  reports,  "  were  obliged  to  submit  to  retracta- 
tions." The  democratic  character  of  the  Minorites, 
illustrated  throughout  the  whole  course  of  their  history, 
led  them  away  from  steadfast  opinion,  and  as  an 
Order  they  had  no  help  to  offer  the  Church  in  its 
time  of  danger. 

Pope  Paul  IV.  instituted  the  Feast  of  St.  Dominic, 
but  there  was  no  tribute  to  the  name  of  Francis.  The 
old  rivalry  of  the  Orders  perished  in  Italy  as  the 
Franciscans  succumbed  to  the  coercive  power  of  the 
conquering  Dominicans.    There  was  indeed  a  recru- 
descence not  of  the  tender  pity  and  winning  love  of 
Francis,   but   of  the   cruel    zeal   which   made  the 
Franciscan  an  Inquisitor,  in  the  Minorite  who  at  the 
Diet  of  Worms,  in  1545,  addressed  the  emperor.  The 
preacher,  painting  the  Lutherans  as  monsters,  turned 
to  Charles,  crying  :  "  Now,  O  emperor  ! — now  is  the 
time  to  fulfil  your  duty ;  enough  of  trifling,  enough  of 
loitering  on  the  way ;  long  ago  you  should  have  done 
the  work  :  God  has  blessed  you  with  power ;  He  has 
raised  you  on  high  to  be  the  defender  of  His  Church. 
Up,  then  !    Call  out  your  armies  !    Smite  and  destroy 
the  accursed  generation ;  it  is  a  crime  to  endure  longer 
these  venomous  wretches  crawling  in  the  sunshine,  and 
venting  their  poison  over  all  things."    The  voice  of 
the  friar  was  the  voice  of  one  crying  to  an  emperor 
impotent  to  stem  a  current  of  the  ages ;  and  passion, 


224  FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC 


inflamed  by  taunts  of  satirists  and  condemnations  of 
reformers,  went  out  of  the  Order,  when  it  died  in  this 
man. 

The  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  was  the  death- 
blow of  mendicancy  in  England.  A  regenerated  spirit, 
but  more  probably  confirmed  apathy,  dictated  the 
submission  of  the  Franciscans  to  the  king.  They  pro- 
fessed to  be  convinced  "  that  the  perf  eccion  of  Christian 
livyng  dothe  not  consiste  in  dome  ceremonyes,  weryng 
of  a  grey  coatte,  disgeasing  our  selffes  aftyr  straunge 
f assions,  dokynges,  nodyngs,  and  bekynges,  in  gurdyng 
owr  selfFes  wythe  a  gurdle  full  of  knots,  and  other  like 
papisticall  ceremonyes,  wherin  we  have  byn  moost 
pryncipally  practysed  and  misse-lyd  in  tymes  past ; 
but  the  very  tru  waye  to  please  God,  and  to  live  a 
tru  Christian  man,  wythe  ow^te  all  ypocrasie  and 
fayned  dissimulacion,  is  sinceerly  declaryd  unto  us  by 
oure  Master  Christe,  his  evangelists  and  apostoles." 

The  yielding  of  the  Franciscans  to  the  Inquisition  in 
Italy,  and  in  England  to  the  Reformation,  was 
significant  of  the  weakness  of  the  Order;  and  when 
the  milder  manners  and  gentler  customs  of  modem 
centuries  rejected  the  use  of  violence  for  the  protection 
of  the  dogma,  the  Dominicans  were  left  as  men  without 
a  purpose.  The  Brotherhoods,  existing  to-day  and 
still  recognised  by  the  Church,  are  relics  of  societies 
which  once  were  profitable  in  Christendom.  Francis 
loved  his  Lord,  and  therefore  served  his  fellow-men ; 
and  the  Minorites,  led  by  his  spirit,  carried  Christ  to 
the  hearts  of  the  weary  and  heavy  laden.  Dominic, 
eager  to  vanquish  error,  laboured  as  a  guardian  of  the 
faith,  and  the  Friars- Preachers,  filled  with  his  zeal, 
guarded  the  dogma  as  the  truth  of  God.    The  kingdom 


DEGRADATION  OF  THE  ORDERS  225 


of  heaven  was  seen  in  the  midst  of  men,  while  the 
power  of  these  saints  endured.  But  the  advancing 
years  beheld  lust  joined  with  love  and  lies  with  truth, 
saw  the  ruin  of  high  aims,  and  witnessed  a  harvest  of 
ifjnoble  traditions.  The  Franciscan  wandered  far 
away  from  the  Poor  Penitent  of  Assisi,  and  the 
Dominican  from  the  Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace. 


LITERATUEE 


The  following  books  may  be  consulted  on  the  subject 
of  this  work  : — 

Speculum  perfectionis  seu  S.  Fraucisci  Assisiensis  legenda 
antiquissima  auctore  fratre  Leone.  Nunc  primum  edidit 
Paul  Sabatier.  Collection  de  documents  pour  Vhistoire 
religieuse  et  litteraire  du  moyen  age,  torn.  i. 

Fratris  Francisci  Bartlioli  de  Assisio  tractatus  de  indulgentia 
S.  ^lariae  de  Portiuncula.  Nunc  primum  integre  edidit 
Paul  Sabatier.  Accedunt  varia  documenta.  Collection 
d'Hudes  et  de  documents  pour  Vhistoire  religieuse  et 
litteraire  du  moyen  age,  tom.  ii. 

Speculum  Vitas  S.  Francisci  et  sociorum  ejus. 

Fioretti  di  S.  Francesco. 

The  Little  Flowers  of  Saint  Francis :  English  translation  of 
the  "Fioretti,"  by  T.  W.  Arnold. 

The  Mirror  of  Perfection  :  English  translation  of  the  "  Spec- 
ulum perfectionis,"  by  Sebastian  Evans. 

Sabatier,  Vie  de  S.  Fran9ois  d' Assise. 

 (English  translation,  by  L.  S.  Houghton.) 

 Un  noveau  chapitre  de  la  vie  de  Saint  Francois  d' Assise 

{Revue  Ghretienne,  1896). 

Sur  des  Lettres  de  Jacques  de  Vitry,  ecrites  en  1216. 

(Memoires  de  1' Academic  Royale  de  Bruxelles,  1849.) 

Rexan,  Nouvelles  Etudes  d'Histoire  Religieuse. 

Lacordaire,  Vie  de  Saint  Dominique,  precedee  du  memoire 
pour  le  retablissemeiit  en  France  de  I'ordre  des  freres 
precheurs. 

Helyot,    Histoire    des    ordres   monastiques    religieux  et 

miUtaires. 
Wadding,  Annales  Minorum. 
Acta  Sanctorum. 

227 


228 


LITERATURE 


Analecta  BoUandiana. 

DoLLiNGER,  Beitriige  zur  Sektengeschiclite  des  Mittelalters. 
MuLLER,  Die  Anfange  des  Minoritenordens  und  der  Buss- 

bruderschaften. 
Christen,  Leben  des  heiligen  Franciscus  von  Assisi. 
OzANAM,  Les  poetes  franciscains  en  Italie  au  treizieme  siecle. 
Thode,  Francis  von  Assisi  und  die  Anfange  der  Kiinst  der 

Renaissance  in  Italien. 
Hase,  Franz  von  Assisi.    Ein  Heiligenbild. 
Brewer,  Monumenta  Franciscana. 
ViLLEMAiN,  Histoire  de  Gregoire  vii. 
Gebhart,  LTtalie  Mystique. 

KiEZLER,  Die  literarischen  Widersacher  der  Papste  zur  Zeit 

Ludwig  des  Baiers. 
KuENEN,  Hibbert  Lecture. 

Dante,  Commedia  :  translation  by  E.  H.  Plumptre. 

Newman,  Historical  Sketches. 

Stevenson,  Robert  Grosseteste,  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

Bryce,  The  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

MoRisoN,  The  Life  of  Saint  Bernard. 

Stephen,  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography. 

Lea,  a  History  of  the  Inquisition  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

 Sacerdotal  Celibacy. 

 Auricular  Confession  and  Indulgences. 

 Superstition  and  Force. 

Pearson,  The  Ethic  of  Free  Thought. 
RusKiN,  Mornings  in  Florence. 
Arnold,  Essays  in  Criticism. 
 Poems. 

Lecky,  The  Rise  and  Influence  of  Rationalism  in  Europe. 
Ranke,  The  Popes  of  Rome. 

Lord  Lindsay,  Sketches  of  the  History  of  the  Christian  Art. 
Gibbon,  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire 

Chronicle  of  the  Grey  Friars  of  London  (Camden  Society). 
Vaughan,  The  Life  and  Labours  of  S.  Thomas  of  Aquin. 
Hampden,  Bampton  Lecture. 

Hume  Brown,  George  Buchanan,  Humanist  and  Reformer. 
Knox  Little,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi :  his  Times,  Life,  and 
Work. 


LITERATURE 


229 


Adderley,  Francis,  tlie  Little  Poor  Man  of  Assisi. 
^loTLEY,  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  RepubHc. 
Drane,  The  History  of  St.  Dominic. 
Hallam,  luirope  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
Froude,  Life  and  Letters  of  Erasmus. 

 Lectures  on  the  Council  of  Trent. 

Harnack,  Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengescliichte. 

Creightox,  History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Reformation. 

 Early  Renaissance  in  England. 

Jameson,  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders. 
Fisher,  The  Medieval  Empu-e. 
Oliphant,  Francis  of  Assisi. 

JussERAND,  English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

 Chaucer's  Pardoner  and  the  Pope's  Pardoners  (Chaucer 

Society). 
Maitland,  The  Dark  Ages. 

 Facts    and    Documents    illustrative  of    the  History, 

Doctrine,  and  Rites  of  the  Ancient  Albigenses  and 
Waldenses. 

Maclear,  a  History  of  Christian  Missions  during  the  Middle 
Ages. 

Baring-Gould,  The  Lives  of  the  Saints. 
SYMONDsand  Gordon,  The  Story  of  Perugia  (Medieval  ToAvns). 
Jessopp,  The  Coming  of  the  Friars,  and  other  Historical  Essay's. 
Rashdall,  The  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Anthony  Wood,  Survey  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  City  of 

Oxford,  vol.  ii.;  Churches  and  Religious  Houses  (Oxford 

Historical  Society). 
Little,  The  Greyfriars  in  Oxford  (Oxford  Historical  Society). 
Day,  Monastic  Institutions  :  their  Origin,  Progress,  Kature, 

and  Tendency. 
MiLMAN,  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 
Lechler,  John  Wycliffe  and  his  English  Precursors. 
Church    Histories — Fleury,    Mosheim,    Neander,  Gieseler, 

Kurtz,  Robertson.  . 
Neander,  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Christian  Dogmas. 
Histories  of  Philosophy — Maurice,  Ueberweg,  Erdmann,  Win- 

delband. 
Church,  Saint  Anselm. 
R^MUSAT,  Saint  Anselme  de  Cantorbery. 


230 


LITERATURE 


Haur^au,  Histoire  de  la  Philosophie  Scolastique. 
Aquinas,  Opera. 
BoNAVENTURA,  Opera. 
Duns  Scotus,  Opera. 

Francois   D'Assise — I.  Vie  de  S.  rran9ois,  par  le  R.  P. 
Leopold  de  Cherance.    II.  S.  Fran9ois  apres  sa  Mort — 

(a)  L'Ordre  de  S.  Frangois,  par  le  R.  P.  Henri  de  Grazes ; 

(b)  Les  Fils  de  S.  Frangois,  par  le  T.  R.  P.  Ubald  de 
Chanday ;  (c)  S.  Fran9ois  dans  I'Art,  par  M  . 


INDEX 


Abelard,  11,  164,  167,  176. 
Abingdon,  127-28, 
Abyssinia,  118. 
Africa,  101. 

Agnellus,  125,  128,  131. 
Agues  of  Meran,  12. 
Aix,  147. 
Alans,  119. 
Albano,  170. 

Albertus  Magnus,  117, 125,  172-74, 

177,  179,  181,  184,  191. 
Albigenses,  86-7,  89,  94,  100,  113, 

143. 

Alcantarines,  210. 
Alexander  ii.,  87. 
„        III.,  85. 

iv.,41,58, 119,  205,217. 

VI.,  201. 

Alexander  of  Hales,  54,  117,  169, 

172,  191,  204,  216. 
Alvarus  Pelagius,  200. 
Amalric  of  Bene,  168-69. 
America,  118. 
Ancona,  34. 
Angelico,  Fra,  135. 
Anselm,  166. 
Anthony  Wood,  122-23. 
Antoninus,  135. 

Antony  of  Tadua,  66,  106,  120-21, 

202. 
Apostolici,  31. 
Apulia,  37. 
Ara  Coeli,  131. 

Arabic  philosophers,  163-64,  168. 
Aragon,  12,  93,  147,  158. 


Archipelago,  207. 
Arezzo,  143. 

Aristotelians,  163,  173,  219. 
Aristotle,  164,  166, 168-69,  170-74, 

177-79,  185-86,  190. 
Aries,  147. 
Armagh,  132. 
Armenians,  119. 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  11,  31,  39,  95. 

,,     of  Citeaux,  87. 
Asia,  131. 

Assisi,  16,  18,  22,  27,  32-33,  35, 
40,  46,  61,  70,  76,  85,  120,  225. 
Augustine,  5,  97,  164,  171. 
Augustinians,  36,  120,  177. 
Avignon,  96,  132,  201. 
Avignonet,  156. 

Babylon,  38. 
Baronius,  166. 

Bartholomew  Abbizzi,  60,  68. 

Bartolomeo,  Fra,  135. 

Basel,  201. 

Baur,  111. 

Beatrice,  77. 

Belgium,  83. 

Benedict  xi.,  148. 

,,      St.,  22,  77. 
Benedictines,  112. 
Berengar  Taloni,  208. 
Bernard  of  Quintavalle,  25,  28. 

St.,  10-11,  31,  84,  112, 
164,  167-68. 
Bemardine  of  Siena,  210. 
Bernardone,  Pietro,  16-7,  85. 


232 


INDEX 


Bethlehem,  75. 
Blasio,  St.,  131. 
Boethius,  165. 
Bohemia,  11,  47,  189. 
Bollaiidists,  92. 

Bologna,  42,  54,  55,  101-2,  104-5, 

108,  118,  121. 
Bouaventura,  35,  38,  42,  60,  79, 

113,  130,  170-72,  191,  193,  196, 

200,  218,  220. 
Boniface  VIII.,  6,  8,  71,  115,  149, 

150,  153,  195,  198,  207. 
Brewer,  Prof.,  136. 
Brigitta,  St.,  194. 
Brindisi,  34. 
Bristol,  137. 
Britain,  131. 
Buddha,  80. 
Bulgarians,  119. 
Burgos,  Cardinal,  222. 

C^SARius  of  Spires,  202. 

Cahors,  91. 

Calaruega,  81,  105. 

Calixtus  II.,  9,  87. 

Calmaldolese,  10. 

Cambalu,  119. 

Canossa,  6. 

Canterbury,  123,  126. 

Capuchins,  210. 

Caraffa,  Cardinal,  222. 

Carcassonne,  90-1. 

Carthusians,  10. 

Cassian,  82. 

Castelnau,  87-9. 

Gastille,  97,  107,  158. 

Cathari,  86,  89,  90,  119,  122,  139. 

Catharine  of  Siena,  60,  109. 

Catherine  of  Aragon,  63. 

Chalcedon,  146. 

Charlemain,  2-3,  53,  164. 

Charles  ii.  of  Spain,  159. 

Chaucer,  192. 

Cimabue,  75. 

Cistercians,  10,  29,  112,  177. 
Clairvaux,  112. 

Clara,  St.,  32,  58,  62,  76-7,  103. 
Clarissas,  40,  57. 
Clement  IV.,  185. 

v.,  149,  206. 


Clement  VI.,  119,  149,  198-99. 
Cluny,  Monastery  of,  3-4. 
Coelestine  iii.,  11,  12,  29. 

v.,  207. 
Cologne,  124,  174,  189. 
Columba,  St.,  73. 
Columbus,  119. 
Conrad  of  Marburg,  93,  157. 

of  Swabia,  215. 
Constance,  201,  210. 
Constantine  the  Great,  9. 
Constantinople,  12,  29,  168,  203-4. 
Conventuals,  203-4,  206,  209-11. 
Corah,  130. 
Cordeliers,  210. 
Cordes,  155. 
Cornhill,  126. 
Cremona,  103-4,  157. 
Cresentius,  203. 
Cumans,  119. 

Dalmatia,  147. 

Damian,  St.,  21-2,  40-1,  62. 

Damietta,  37. 

Dante,  18-9,  40-50,  56,  63,  70-1, 
75,  77,  93,  117, 153-54,  170,  177, 
200. 

David  of  Dinant,  168-69. 
Denmark,  118. 

Dominic,  St.,  8,  27,  49,  51,  60,  64, 
77,  81-110,  111-14,  117,  120, 
122,  133,  135,  139-40,  146,  151, 
160-61,  191-92,  195,  199,  210, 
212,  220,  222-24. 

Dominicans  (Friars-Preachers),  45, 
54-5,  59,  63-4,  84,  92,  97-8, 
101,  104-5,  114,  117-19,  122-26, 
128,  135,  141-44,  146-50,  155- 
56,  158-59,  161,  172,  175,  177, 
187,  189,  191-92,  195-98,  200, 
207,  211-12,  214-19,  222-25. 

Dominic  of  Silos,  81. 

Dover,  125-26. 

Dunbar,  192. 

Duns  Scotus,    117,  178-80,  181 

183,  188,  191. 
Durand  of  Huesca,  29,  96. 

Ebbe,  St.,  128. 

Eccelino  da  Romano,  120. 


INDEX 


233 


Eccleston,  25,  129. 
Eckhart,  189-91. 
Edward  iii.,  123. 
Edward's,  St.,  123. 
Egidius,  Brother,  34. 
Egypt,  101. 

Elias  of  Cortona,  37,  39,  46,  52, 
59,  61-2,  121,  195,  201-3, 
214. 

Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  56,  157- 
58. 

England,  6,  83,  85-7,  122,  127- 
30,  132,  137,  142,  193,  203,  209. 
224. 

English,  116. 

Erasmus,  187,  189,  192,  220. 
Europe,  56,  120,  213. 
Eustorgius,  St.,  157. 
Ethiopians,  119. 

Fanjeaux,  90. 

Fecamp,  125. 

Felix  Guzman,  81. 

Filippo  Paternon,  143. 

Fioretti  of  St.  Francis,  25-6,  32, 
57,  61,  66,  70,  78,  104. 

Florence,  143,  149,  156-57. 

France,  41,  79,  82,  86,  89,  92, 
96-7,  101,  106,  120;  131,  138, 
140,  144,  147,  185,  215-16. 

Francis  Bernard  Delitiosi,  60. 

St.,  6,  8,  16-80,  85, 101-8, 
111,  113,  115,  117,  119-21,  126, 
129-30,  135,  138,  170,  191-92, 
194,  199-206,  209-10,  212,  214, 
220,  223-24. 

Franciscans  (Friars  Minor,  Minor- 
ites, Penitents  of  Assisi),  23,  25, 
28-9,  32,  34,  36,  42-3,  46,  55-9, 
64,  70,  84-5,  102,  114,  118-19, 
122,  125,  127-31,  136-37,  146-47, 
149,  153,  156,  160,  161,  169-70, 
172,  178,  185,  187,  189,  193-95, 
197,  200,  204-5,  208,  210,  212-18, 
220,  222-23,  225. 

Franks,  2. 

French,  116. 

Fraticelli,  209. 

Frederick  i.  (Barbarossa),  2,  9-10, 
31. 


Frederick  11.,  11,  50,  141-42,  147, 

203,  213,  215. 
Frideswyde's,  St.,  124. 

Gall,  St.,  73. 
Genevieve,  St.,  125. 
George  Buchanan,  192,  220. 

,,     St.,  Church  of,  62. 
Georgians,  119. 
Germans,  116,  157. 
Germany,  2,  79,  83,  97,  106,  118, 

130,  158,  189,  202,  214,  223. 
Gherardo  da  Borgo  San  Donnino, 

205. 

Giacopone  di  Todi,  70,  79,  111. 
Gibbon,  86,  139. 
Gilbert  de  Fraxineto,  122-23. 
Giotto,  18,  27,  58,  75-6. 
Giovanni  di  Salerno,  144. 

,,       Parenti,  202. 
Goethe,  72. 
Goths,  119. 
Greece,  207. 
Greeks,  119. 
Gregorovius,  131. 

Gregory  vii.  (Hildebrand),  1,  3-8, 
10-11,  13,  15,  30,  154, 
214. 

IX.  (Ugolini),  36-7,  39, 
41,  43,  45,  48,  52,  58, 
62,  64,  105,  107,  128, 
143-45,  169,  192,  194- 
95,  201,  203,  209,  213- 
14. 

,,        X.,  119,  205. 
Grosseteste,  124,  128-29,  216. 
Guido,  157. 

Guillem  Aruauld,  155-56. 

Hadrian  iv.,  6,  9-10,  31. 

Hallam,  112. 

Harnack,  71. 

Ha.se,  59. 

Hayti,  119. 

Hefele,  141. 

Heine,  20. 

Henry  11.  of  England,  6. 
III.  (Emperor),  3. 
,,      IV.  (Emperor),  5,  6,  154. 
V.  (Emperor),  8,  9. 


234 


INDEX 


Henry  the  Deacon,  84. 

of  Cologne,  124. 
Hermitages,  Brethren  of,  210. 
Hildegard,  193. 
Hohenstaufen,  214. 
Holland,  80. 

Holy  Land,  23,  118,  213. 
Honorius  iii.,  23,  52,  88,  92,  98- 

100,  105,  107,  196,  213. 
Honorius  iv.,  198. 
Hugh  of  Vienne,  135. 
Humbert  de  Romanis,  161. 
Hungarians,  119. 
Hungary,  12,  82,  106,  118. 

Ibekians,  119. 
Ignatius  Loyola,  222. 
Ilchester,  184. 
Indians,  119. 
Ingeburga,  11-2. 
Innocent     ii.,  11,  87. 

III.  ,  1,  6,  8,  10-5,  27-9, 
32,  36,  43,  82-3,  87, 
89,  92,  97-8,  107, 
139,  142,  154,  161, 
168,  176,  196,  213. 

IV.  ,  48,  131,  147-48, 
197,  205-7,  214. 

v.,  135. 
viir.,  153. 
Ireland,  6,  130. 
Isabell  de  Bulbeck,  124. 
Isabella  of  Spain,  158. 
Italy,  2,  6,  9,  17,  20,  30,  41,  83, 
86,    100,    103,  120,  130,  147, 
223-24. 

Jacoba,  Lady,  58. 
Jacobites,  Eastern,  118-19. 
Jacobus  de  Voragine,  135. 
Jacques  de  Vitry,  23,  36,  38. 
•Janus,  76. 
Jerome,  58. 

„      St.,  77. 
Jerusalem,  22,  119. 
Jessop,  137. 
Jesuits,  215,  222. 
Jewish- Alexandrian  schools,  165. 
Jews,  93,  124,  159. 
Joanna  of  Aza,  81. 


Joannes  de  Monte  Corvino,  119. 
Joachim  of  Flora,  29,  168,  204-5, 
207. 

John  XXI.,  198. 
,,    XXII.,  60,  204,  206-8. 
,,    Friar,  136. 

of  Capella,  42. 

of  England,  6,  12. 

of  Parma,  204-5,  217. 
, ,    of  St.  Alban,  125. 
,,    of  St.  Giles,  216. 
„    of  St.  Paul,  28,  36. 

of  Vicenza,  121,  135. 
,,    Scotus  Erigina,  165. 
Jordan,  92,  101,  118,  124,  172- 
73. 

Julius  II.,  201. 

Kamel,  38. 
Kubla  Kahn,  119. 
Kuenen,  80. 

Lacordaire,  93. 
Landolf,  Count  of,  174. 
Langland,  192. 

Languedoc,  82,  84,  86-7,  93,  97, 

139-40,  145,  151. 
Laningeu,  172. 
Laurence,  Brother,  125,  136. 
,,       of  Beauvais,  126. 
St.,  123. 
Lateran  Church,  2. 
„     Council  II.,  87. 

III.,  87. 
„       IV.,    12-3,  29, 
36,  93,  95-7, 
143-44,  169, 
196. 
v.,  200. 

Laura,  71. 
Lecky,  142,  160. 
Legnano,  9. 
Leo  X.,  195,  200,  210. 
,,  XIII.,  48. 

Brother,  78-9,  202. 
Leon,  12. 

Lewis  of  Bavaria,  204,  208-9. 
Limoges,  95. 
Liverpool,  137. 
Llorente,  140. 


INDEX 


235 


Lombards,  2,  37. 
Lombardy,  106,  122,  152. 
London,  123,  126-27,  137. 
Lord  Bacon,  136. 

,,   Lindsay,  58, 
Louis,  St.,  49. 
Lucca,  149. 
Lucius  III.,  85. 
Lully,  Raymond,  177-78. 
Luther,  191,  222. 
Lutherans,  223. 
Lynn,  137. 
Lyons,  214. 

Machiavelli,  114. 
Madrid,  107,  159. 
Mahomet,  37. 
Manichfeans,  86. 
Marco  Polo,  119. 
Marsiglio  of  Padua,  209. 
Masseo,  Brother,  32. 
Matthew  Arnold,  69,  71,  114. 

Brother,  125. 

Paris,  192,  215. 
Mexico,  118. 

Michael  of  Cesena,  208-9. 
Milan,  146-47. 
Milton,  64. 
Montefeltro,  63. 
Montpellier,  82. 
Moors,  93. 
Motley,  141. 
Morocco,  37,  118,  120. 
Mosheim,  152. 
Murcia,  120. 
Muret,  91,  96. 
Muscovites,  119. 

Naples,  213. 

Narbonne,     87-8,     90,  147-48, 
155. 

Nestorians,  118-19. 
Netherlands,  141. 
New  Granada,  118. 
Newman,  Cardinal,  120. 
Nicholas,  St.,  126. 

Convent  of,  105. 

III.  ,  205,  208. 

IV.  ,  48,  100,  135,  148. 
Normandy,  97. 


Norwich,  137. 
Nubians,  119. 

Obsekvantines,  210. 

Octavian,  131. 

Oliver,  53. 

Osma,  82,  105. 

Osney,  124. 

Otto  of  Brunswick,  11. 

,,   the  Great,  1-3,  10. 
Oxford,  25,  56,  99,  118,  122,  124, 

127-30,  131-33,  178,  182,  185. 
Ozanam,  70. 

Pacifico,  Brother,  68. 
Padua,  121,  148,  172. 
Palencia,  82. 
Palestine,  118. 

Paris,  99,  101,  117-18,  125,  131, 

137,  168-69,  178,  182,  186,  189, 

211,  216-17,  219. 
Paschal  11.,  8. 
Patarines,  30,  86. 
Paul,  St.,  86,  218. 

,,    IV.,  223. 
Paula,  71. 
Paulicianism,  86. 
Pavia,  172. 
Pekin,  119. 
Persia,  117. 
Peru,  118. 
Perugia,  18,  98. 
Peter  de  Brueys,  83-4. 

,,    de  Pvupibus,  132. 

,,    John  Olivi,  60,  207. 

.,    of  Tarentaise,  135. 
St.,  200,  222. 

,,    the  Lombard,  167-69. 
Petrarch,  71. 
Pharisees,  172,  217. 
Philip  II.  222. 

,,     Augustus,  11,  12. 
,,     Brother,  41,  43. 
, ,     of  S wabia,  1 1 . 
,,     the  Fair,  142. 
Pica,  16. 

Piero  da  Vema,  156-57. 
Pierre  Cella,  91. 
Pietro  di  Catana,  46. 
Pisa,  60,  143. 


236 


INDEX 


Pius  II.,  210. 

Plato,  160,  164-65,  171. 

Platonism,  165,  190. 

Neo-,  165,  168,  190. 
Poland,  12,  118. 
Poor  Catholics,  29,  96. 
Porphyry,  165. 

Portiunciila  (St.  Mary  of  the 
Angels),  22-4,  26,  28,  33,  40, 
61,  77,  195. 

Portugal,  12,  130. 

Prescott,  141. 

Prouille,  88,  93,  97-8,  102, 
125. 

Provence,  16,  17,  106. 
Prussians,  100. 
Puritans,  85. 
Pyrenees,  82. 

QuENTiN,  St.,  Dean  of,  125. 

Raimtjnd  di  Pennaforti,  119. 

Ranke,  223. 

Raoul,  87. 

Raphael,  75. 

Raspe,  Henry,  214-15. 

Ravenna,  49. 

Raymond  d'Alfaro,  156. 

Lully,  177-78. 

of  Toulouse,  89,  142. 
Regensburg,  173. 
Reginald,  Brother,  102. 
Renan,  59,  64,  74,  79. 
Rhine,  214. 

Richard  of  Devon,  127. 

of  Ingworth,  126-27. 
Rieti,  60-1. 
Rivo  Torto,  32-3. 
Robert  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  124. 
Roger  Bacon,  117,  184-86,  191. 
Roland,  63. 

of  Cremona,  216. 
Romagnuolo,  106. 
Romans,  131. 

Rome,  2,  5,  13,  27-9,  31,  34,  42, 
64,  82-4,  97-8,  103,  115,  131, 
139-42,  146-47, 149,  150,  158-59, 
169,  185,  189,  194-96,  200-1, 
214,  216-17,  222-23. 

Ruggieri  Calcagni,  146,  157. 


Ruskin,  68,  74. 
Russians,  119. 

Sabatier,  73. 
Sabina,  St.,  99,  108. 
Sachsenhausen,  208. 
Salerno,  7. 
Saracens,  119. 
Savelli,  99. 
Savona,  6. 
Savonarola,  136. 
Saxony,  189. 
Scholastica,  77. 
Sciffi,  40. 
Scotists,  187. 
Scotland,  130. 
Segovia,  101,  106. 
Sens,  146. 
Seville,  158. 
Shakespere,  136. 
Shrewsbury,  137. 
Sicily,  37,  71. 
Siena,  130. 

Silvester  11.,  166,  186. 

,,       Brother,  32. 
Simon  deMontfort,  87, 91-2,  94, 140. 
Sir  David  Lindsay,  192. 
,,  Launfal,  20. 
Sixtus  IV.,  60,  117,  158,  170. 
„     v.,  92,  157. 
„     St.,  99. 
Socrates,  181. 

Spain,  41,  82,  93,  99,  101,  105-6, 

130,  140,  159-60,  215,  222. 
Spaniards,  116. 
Speculum  Vitse,  130. 
Spoleto,  18-9. 
Stephen  Langton,  122-23. 
St.  James,  Convent  of,  125. 
Strasburg,  189. 
Surrey,  182. 
Sutri,  3. 

Swabia,  172,  207,  214-15. 
Syria,  37. 

Tartars,  119. 
Tauler,  191. 
Tertiaries,  47-50. 
Teutons,  6. 
Thode,  79. 


INDEX 


237 


Thomas  Aquinas,  92,  117,  125,  135, 
160,  164,  172,  174-81, 
187-88,191,  196,  200-1, 
204,  218. 
,,      of  Celano,  33,  46,  70. 
,,      of  Eccleston,  125. 
Thomists,  177,  187. 
Three  Companions,  116. 
Thuringia,  189,  214. 
Titian,  157. 

Torquemada,  158-59,  201. 
Toulouse,  88,  91,  94,  99,  102,  142, 

144,  155,  178. 
Tours,  87. 
Trivettus,  123. 

Troubadours,  17-8,  65,  68,  72. 
Tunis,  120. 
Turks,  119. 

Tuscany,  37,  56,  146,  152. 

Ubertino  of  Casale,  207. 
Urabria,  16,  28,  34,  71. 
Urban  11.,  8,  10. 


Vallombrosians,  10. 
Venice,  104,  118. 
Verna,  56. 
Verona,  85,  122. 
Vicenza,  149. 
Vienne,  149. 

Wadding,  29,  178. 

Waldenses,  28,  32,  84-5,  87,  95-6, 

150. 
Waldo,  85. 

Walter  of  Brienne,  18. 

of  St.  Victor,  168. 
Wiclif,  63,  134,  209. 
Williani  of  Occam,  181-84,  186 
191,  204,  208,  219. 
,,       of  St.  Amour,  174,  217- 
19. 

Worms,  9,  223. 
York,  137. 

ZlCHORI,  119. 


THE  WORLD'S 
EPOCH-MAKERS 


EDITED  BY 

OLIPHANT  SMEATON. 

 "XX*  


ESSRS.  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
have  much  pleasure  in  announcing  an 


important  new  Series,  under  the  title  of 

"THE  WORLD'S  EPOCH-MAKERS." 

The  Volumes  composing-  it  will  constitute,  when  their 
issue  is  complete,  a  valuable  conspectus  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  most  prominent  movements  that 
have  taken  place  in  theology,  philosophy,  and  the  histor}' 
of  intellectual  development  from  Buddha  to  the  present 
day. 

Each  Volume  will  record  the  initiation  and  trace  the 
Evolution  of  some  particular  phase  of  human  thought 
and  culture.  The  various  subjects  have  in  every  case 
been  assigned  to  writers  who  have  made  a  special  study 
of  them.  The  Publishers,  therefore,  confidently  expect 
that  the  successive  Volumes  will  present  the  latest  and 
most  reliable  information  on  the  topics  whereon  they 
treat,  and  that  the  Series  as  a  whole  will  be  found  to 
afford  a  valuable  guide  to  the  consecutive  study  of  the 
leading  Epochs  in  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  spiritual 
development  of  humanity. 


For  List  of  Volumes  see  following  pages. 


THE  WORLD'S  EPOCH-MAKERS. 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHISM. 

The  First  Bursting  of  the  Fetters  of  Ignorance  and  Superstition. 
By  Arthur  Lillie,  M.A.,  London.  [Now  ready. 

SOCRATES. 

The  Moral  Awakening  of  the  Western  World.  By  Rev.  J.  T. 
Forbes,  M.A.,  Edinburgh. 

PLATO  AND  ARISTOTLE. 

A  Contrast  and  Appreciation.  By  Professor  D.  G.  Ritchie, 
M.A.,  University  of  St.  Andrews. 

MARCUS  AURELIUS  AND  THE  LATER  STOICS. 

The  Last  and  the  Greatest  Age  of  Stoicism.  By  F.  W. 
BussELL,  D.D.,  Vice-Principal  of  Brasenose  College,  O.vford. 

ORIGEN  AND  GREEK  PATRISTIC  THEOLOGY. 
By  Rev.  W.  Fairvveather,  M.A. 

AUGUSTINE  AND  LATIN  PATRISTIC  THEOLOGY. 
By  Professor  B.  B.  Warfield,  D.  D.  ,  Princeton. 

MAHOMET  AND  MAHOMETANISM. 

By  P.  De  Lacy  Johnstone,  M.A.(Oxon.). 

ANSELM  AND  CUR  DEUS  HOMO. 
By  Rev.  A.  C.  Welch,  B.  D. 

FRANCIS  AND  DOMINIC  AND  THE  MENDICANT  ORDERS. 

By  Professor  J.  Herkless,  D.D.,  University  of  St.  Andrews. 

[Now  ready. 

SCOTUS  ERIGENA  AND  HIS  EPOCH. 

By  R.  Latta,  Ph.D.,  D.Sc,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy 
in  the  University  of  Aberdeen. 

WYCLIF  AND  THE  LOLLARDS. 
By  Rev.  J.  C.  Carrick,  B.D. 

THE  MEDICI  AND  THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE. 
By  Oliphant  Smeaton,  \LA.,  Edinburgh. 

THE  TWO  BACONS  AND  EXPERIMENTAL  SCIENCE. 

Showing  how  RoGER  Bacon  prepared  the  way  for  Francis 
Bacon,  Lord  Verulam.    By  Rev.  W.  J.  Couper,  M.A. 

SAVONAROLA. 

By  G.  M'Haruy,  D.D. 

{Continued  on  fte.rt  />ag€. 


New  York  :  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


THE  WORLD'S  EPOCH-MAKERS— CONTINUED. 


LUTHER  AND  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 

By  Professor  T.  M.  Lindsay,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Glasgow. 

[Now  ready. 

CRANMER  AND  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION. 

By  A.  D.  INNES,  M.A.(Oxon.),  London.  [Now  ready. 

CALVIN  AND  THE  REFORMED  THEOLOGY. 

By  Principal  Salmond,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Aberdeen. 

PASCAL  AND  THE  PORT  ROYALISTS. 

By  Professor  W.  Clark,  LL.D.,  D.C.L,,  Trinity  College, 
Toronto. 

DESCARTES,  SPINOZA,  AND  THE  NEW  PHILOSOPHY. 

By  Professor  J.  Iverach,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Aberdeen. 

WILLIAM  HERSCHEL  AND  HIS  WORK. 

By  James  Sime,  M. A. ,  F.  R.S.E.  [Now  ready, 

WESLEY  AND  METHODISM. 

■  By  F.  J.  Snell,  M.  A.(Oxon.).  [Now  ready. 

LESSING  AND  THE  NEW  HUMANISM. 

Including  Baumgarten  and  the  Science  of  ^Esthetics.  By 
Rev.  A.  P.  Davidson,  M.A. 

HUME    AND    HIS    INFLUENCE    ON    PHILOSOPHY  AND 
THEOLOGY. 
By  Professor  J.  Orr,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 

ROUSSEAU  AND  NATURALISM  IN  LIFE  AND  THOUGHT. 
By  Professor  W.  H.  Hudson,  M.A.,  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  University,  California, 

KANT  AND  HIS  PHILOSOPHICAL  REVOLUTION. 

By  Professor  R.  M.  Wenley,  D.Sc,  Ph.D.,  University  of 
Michigan. 

SCHLEIERMACHER    AND    THE    REJUVENESCENCE  OF 
THEOLOGY. 

By  Professor  A.  Martin,  D.D.,  New  College,  Edinburgh. 

HEGEL  AND  HEGELIANISM. 

By  Professor  R.  Mackintosh,  D.D.,  Lancashire  Independent 
College,  Manchester. 

NEWMAN  AND  HIS  INFLUENCE. 

By  C.  Sarolea,  Ph.D.,  Litt.  Doc,  University  of  Edinburgh. 


NEW  YORK :  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Date  Due 


DE^  "SI 

;!?   1  "54 

